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soil How do I improve this soil mix?

R

Ryan_U

Hi,
 
Last year I grew about 70 hot pepper plants in 5 gallon containers. To lower costs, I used a bulk garden soil that I bought a couple cubic yards of. The vendor said it was Fafard soil and this is the information I found about the soil (see below). What can I add to this soil to increase the quality because I was a little dissapointed of my yields last year? I would like to keep it simple and only mix one ingredient that I could buy in bags and mix to about 1/3 maximum (for example compost, manure, peat moss, or vermiculite ect...) Thanks!
 
INGREDIENTS
Black earth (humus), composted manure, sand, lime
GUARANTEED MINIMUM ANALYSIS
Total Nitrogen (N) - 0.3% 
Available Phosphoric Acid (P2O5) - 0.02% 
Soluble Potash (K2O) - 0.01% 
Organic Matter - 24% 
Maximum Moisture - 61% - See more at: http://www.fafard.ca/en/produit/gardening_top_soil/#sthash.5m7lPbqr.dpuf
 
If you're growing in containers I would definitely go with perlite, I usually mix around 1/4th to 1/3th of perlite to soil, this will make water drainage in your soil vastly better.
If you have the funds for it, you could add something extra like horn or bloodmeal, but it's not needed, i've had decent results with only soil + perlite, you might want to use a bit of organic fertilizer or AACT (compost tea) throughout the season, but you should be fine. Good luck!
 
Wow! Thanks for the quick replies. I will go for some perlite. I will see if I can find some in bulk. Seems that perlite can be used as insulation and could be a source of bulk product? I use fish emulsion as fertilizer.
 
personal preference, I will always choose crushed pumice over perlite whenever I can.
 
 
Two reasons:
- I get roughly 3x the quantity for the price
- It doesn't crush/compact/powederize as easily as perlite, which eventually needs to be replaced (I recycle my soil, so I like how the pumice holds up much longer)
 
I pick it up by the burlap sac at our local farm supply store. And I live in the city, so it can't be too tough to find :)
 
ps: I also add a handful of course sand here and there. Having different sized particles is a great way to encourage drainage.
 
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