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Repotting help.....

I'm going to need to repot a few of the plants I have. I've tried reading about what type of soil mixture will work best but there is not really a "basic" guideline from what I could find. I have read though not to just pot them in nothing but Miracle Grow dirt which is what I did with one :oops: I'm going to repot that one also. Basically what I'm asking is if someone can give me a general soil setup that should work to get me started this year and next year once I learn more I can try different setups.

So when I head out to the garden store I should buy..................?
 
I did. I still don't understand everything that I'm reading. That's why I was just looking for a basic all around combo and could try some new things next year when I understand more what I'm doing.

I kinda got the urge to do this "last minute" this year. So I'm trying to learn as I go lol...
 
Can't find pro mix bx or fox farms or ocean whatever brands? those work awesome from what I hear. (not that I can find any of those out here)
 
Here is what I use...buy you some peat moss (I can get a bale at Lowe's for $10), some manure compost, some perlite, and I even throw in a little potting mix with it. The stuff may not be that great by itself, but it works well with a mix. (At least for me.) I have a scoop that I will do a 3 scoop peat moss, 2 scoop manure compost, 1/2 scoop perlite, and 3 scoops potting mix.
Again, this is what works for ME. My plants LOVE it so far.
Some people know WAY more about this stuff than I do. (Im a newb myself.) I cant tell you WHY these things work, I just know that they DO work.
Hope this helps, even if just a little.
 
Hot Pooper said:
Here is what I use...buy you some peat moss (I can get a bale at Lowe's for $10), some manure compost, some perlite, and I even throw in a little potting mix with it. The stuff may not be that great by itself, but it works well with a mix. (At least for me.) I have a scoop that I will do a 3 scoop peat moss, 2 scoop manure compost, 1/2 scoop perlite, and 3 scoops potting mix.
Again, this is what works for ME. My plants LOVE it so far.
Some people know WAY more about this stuff than I do. (Im a newb myself.) I cant tell you WHY these things work, I just know that they DO work.
Hope this helps, even if just a little.

Perfect! This was just the kind of help I was looking for. Thank you very much.
 
Hot Pooper said:
Here is what I use...buy you some peat moss (I can get a bale at Lowe's for $10), some manure compost, some perlite, and I even throw in a little potting mix with it. The stuff may not be that great by itself, but it works well with a mix. (At least for me.) I have a scoop that I will do a 3 scoop peat moss, 2 scoop manure compost, 1/2 scoop perlite, and 3 scoops potting mix.
Again, this is what works for ME. My plants LOVE it so far.
Some people know WAY more about this stuff than I do. (Im a newb myself.) I cant tell you WHY these things work, I just know that they DO work.
Hope this helps, even if just a little.

One more thing. What size pots are you doing this in?
 
I mix all of it in a seperate container, so I just use it as I need it. If I need more, I just make more. If I make too much, I can always save it for later, or just throw it on top of the garden. Once you make it a time or two, you will get the hang of it.
 
CCW13 said:
One more thing. What size pots are you doing this in?

if your planning on keeping them in pots you should only do one plant per 3 to 5 gallon container.

I use regular Miracle Grow, not moisture control and not organic, just regular potting mix (most on here dont like MG) and I mix it with some manure compost and perlite. About a 50/50 mix of the potting mix and compost then a handful of the perlite.
 
Here's the deal on potting mixes. It ain't rocket science. It really boils down to the fact that you need 3 different components in a good container mix, which you can either get by buying a pre made mix, or by making your own using the three components. Here they are.

1. A container mix must provide a light, fluffy structure which gives the roots some space to grow and explore, as opposed to being tightly packed and heavy and dense (like clay or garden dirt, etc). You want this "structure" material to not absorb too much water, or then you'll constantly be getting water-logged, heavy, and will be susceptible to virus/mold/bugs etc. One popular medium that provides a nice light, airy structure that peppers like is: peat. Peat is a really good medium for pepper growing. ProMix is 80-85 % peat by the way.

2. Since peat has absolutely no nutitional value, many people will add compost to the peat, to create a still-fluffy but now-somewhat-heavier mix which has nutrients for the plants. A peat-compost blend is not going to be as light and airy as just peat; it will get watelogged and will be heavier, but it will provide good nutrient value to the plant. I personally mix 75 % peat, 25 % compost, to get some nutrient value but still mostly leaning toward light, airy mix.

3. You need effective drainage - to suck the water out of the container, and you also need to retain some moisture so it can be used by the plants. A few handfuls of vermiculite and perlite play exactly these roles.

So basically, if you used 2/3 peat, 1/3 compost, and thew in some vermiculite or perlite, you'd have a very effective mix. This mix in fact would be roughly consistent with what the Square Foot Gardener (SFG) book says to do, and also this mix is roughly what is in ProMix BX, but at a considerably lower DIY cost. It is also easy to tune this mix for other plants. For instance, if you are growing plants with higher nutritional demands than peppers, you can just make it 50/50 peat/compost.

Personally I would avoid those MG potting mixes and the like. Every time I open one up I am deeply disappointed in the quality. I think you are better off with a big fat bale of peat, a couple bags of compost from the local garden center, and $5 or $10 bags of perlite or something. That mix will be much, much higher quality than anything you're going to get out ot a MG bag.

One thing, get a small bag of dolomitic lime and add it conservatively to the overall container mix. Peat on its own is or may be too acidic for some peppers, left untreated. Applyling the lime will take down the pH to a range more comfortable for peppers. Some people get pH meters and all that jazz, but in truth, you can just assume a peat mix will be a little acidic and add 1/2 or 1/4 of the amt of lime it says to add on the lime package, and it'd be fine.
 
Wow. Great soil breakdown, mega--I've been about as confused over this whole situation as the topic creator. The sticky post everyone points out is (IMO) way too confusing, and I was even contemplating making a similar topic but didn't because I've seen plenty of similar ones ending with "see the sticky topic." Useful info.
 
tnx. Zelda. Yeah, I was in the same place on soils. It's very confusing. Last year was my virgin pepper growing year and I was totally overwhelmed in trying to deal with soil issues and questions. At some point I decided to really get my head into it, just read everything I could find, experimented with different approaches, and boiled it all down to one simple blog post worth of content LOL
 
I agree. Make your own. I use peat, potting soil, vermiculite, manure, perlite and I throw in a little dolomite lime and garden or tomato tone. So far, it has worked fine. I too bought the MG soil and was disappointed with the quality. Can't get Pro Mix so did the next best thing. I wish I had a compost pile. Maybe next year.
 
after reading these I am going to make my own for next year as well. I will most likely save some money as well...

EDIT: Well by make my own I mean not add MG to my compost and perlite. I will try using some peat. compost is cheap at my local garden center any ways. Only 1.69 per 20lb bag. Not sure about peat. never looked for it yet
 
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