tea tree
Well-Known Member
All right, I was cruising the web looking for info on soiless mixes and mineral defincy. (i am trying to avoid buying some greensand for iron, sh, lol!) Anyway I came across this. Nice to read as I have been mostly reading garden books for outdoor plots when I read about the soil food web. That is some good shit! Anyway, (again) 
) Anyway this guy claims he managed a nursery. I myself was releived as I am growing in exactly what he says, except I used pro-mix. It looks beautiful to me. Lol, but anyway here it is.
The term 'soil' is what is confusing you. What that word REALLY means is the mineral component....sand (the biggest mineral particles), silt (smaller than sand, but still mineral particles), and clay (smallest particle size of all). A 'soil-less' potting mix is one that will NOT contain soil! Well, coarse sand may or may not be added, but only as an amendment. When you hear the term 'potting mix', or 'container medium', blah blah blah, you could assume that the product will be soil-less.
A wonderful garden soil 'works' in the ground because it is part of a larger working system. Once you take those same soil components out of the ground and stick them in a container, that system no longer functions. It's broken permanently. Not only that.....if you use even small amounts of garden soil as an amendment to a soil-less mix, you may end up with air spaces filled with silt and clay!
Thus, professional growers demanded something different and soil-less mediums were born. YAY! Soil-less planting mediums have been used for years and years in the horticulture (floraculture in particular)industries. Why? Soil-less mixes are based on ingredients that provide porosity! Oxygen filled large pore spaces are what good growing is ALL about. These mixes are peat based (as you know), and often have other added goodies that help create a long lasting, fast draining, porous planting medium.
Luckily, everyone can get their hands on soil-less potting medium now, though some of the retail stuff out there is absolutely HORRID! That's why many of us, those who have learned that plants grow better in a very porous mix, either make our own from scratch OR amend the commercial stuff to the texture that we like.
I became acquainted with Fafard commercial potting medium many years ago, while running a production greenhouse. I've never used anything else since, though now I amend the dickens out of it! STILL not good enough for me, lol. The much touted 'Pro-Mix' is a substance that I place way down on the list of acceptable soil-less mediums. I would refuse a bale of it if someone wanted to give it to me! (Or I would put it out into the garden!)
I add a great deal of bark fines, Turface, and perlite to the Fafard professional medium. It creates an excellent, fast draining mix that will happily support all kinds of plants for quite some time. I have been recently introduced to my dear friend Al's mix and now I'm reallllly spoiled!
I would encourage you to avoid soil-less mediums with additives like water holding crystals, fertilizers, etc. Don't buy planting SOIL and use it in containers. When looking for a good planting mix, read the label. Soil-less mediums will be labeled as such. That is the predominant product on the market for container plants. You may have to look long and hard to find something without all of those additives, though. I have a local grower who supplies me with the Fafard that I need, because he uses it, too. I've even used the composted bark 'SOIL CONDITIONER' sold in the bag by Lowe's, and find it a great amendment to the Fafard. For starters, I think you would be pleased with a mixture of that and whatever high quality potting medium you can find. What is the kind that your local nursery sells? If you are still confused about the terminology or how a good soil-less planting mix is supposed to work, please email me. I promise I won't ramble on and on like I've done today! Well, MAYBE.
All right, any questions, cuz he sounds exactly right, why i made the switch. By the way I love peat and maybe it is bad for the envonment but I am an ANT, lol, when it comes to the peat industry so earth can say she owes me this one for putting up with my ac bill this month.
edit: what he means is to amend the peat with blood and bone too. He is wrong about the soil web being not viable in the pot with soil in there. He rambles but he right about the greater air and less comnpaction. Soiless peat havily amended with blood, bone, and kelp, dolomite, azomite, and perlite witht he addtion of bacteria and myco and compost for bacteria and myco are a good idea and I am having great results.
) Anyway this guy claims he managed a nursery. I myself was releived as I am growing in exactly what he says, except I used pro-mix. It looks beautiful to me. Lol, but anyway here it is. The term 'soil' is what is confusing you. What that word REALLY means is the mineral component....sand (the biggest mineral particles), silt (smaller than sand, but still mineral particles), and clay (smallest particle size of all). A 'soil-less' potting mix is one that will NOT contain soil! Well, coarse sand may or may not be added, but only as an amendment. When you hear the term 'potting mix', or 'container medium', blah blah blah, you could assume that the product will be soil-less.
A wonderful garden soil 'works' in the ground because it is part of a larger working system. Once you take those same soil components out of the ground and stick them in a container, that system no longer functions. It's broken permanently. Not only that.....if you use even small amounts of garden soil as an amendment to a soil-less mix, you may end up with air spaces filled with silt and clay!
Thus, professional growers demanded something different and soil-less mediums were born. YAY! Soil-less planting mediums have been used for years and years in the horticulture (floraculture in particular)industries. Why? Soil-less mixes are based on ingredients that provide porosity! Oxygen filled large pore spaces are what good growing is ALL about. These mixes are peat based (as you know), and often have other added goodies that help create a long lasting, fast draining, porous planting medium.
Luckily, everyone can get their hands on soil-less potting medium now, though some of the retail stuff out there is absolutely HORRID! That's why many of us, those who have learned that plants grow better in a very porous mix, either make our own from scratch OR amend the commercial stuff to the texture that we like.
I became acquainted with Fafard commercial potting medium many years ago, while running a production greenhouse. I've never used anything else since, though now I amend the dickens out of it! STILL not good enough for me, lol. The much touted 'Pro-Mix' is a substance that I place way down on the list of acceptable soil-less mediums. I would refuse a bale of it if someone wanted to give it to me! (Or I would put it out into the garden!)
I add a great deal of bark fines, Turface, and perlite to the Fafard professional medium. It creates an excellent, fast draining mix that will happily support all kinds of plants for quite some time. I have been recently introduced to my dear friend Al's mix and now I'm reallllly spoiled!
I would encourage you to avoid soil-less mediums with additives like water holding crystals, fertilizers, etc. Don't buy planting SOIL and use it in containers. When looking for a good planting mix, read the label. Soil-less mediums will be labeled as such. That is the predominant product on the market for container plants. You may have to look long and hard to find something without all of those additives, though. I have a local grower who supplies me with the Fafard that I need, because he uses it, too. I've even used the composted bark 'SOIL CONDITIONER' sold in the bag by Lowe's, and find it a great amendment to the Fafard. For starters, I think you would be pleased with a mixture of that and whatever high quality potting medium you can find. What is the kind that your local nursery sells? If you are still confused about the terminology or how a good soil-less planting mix is supposed to work, please email me. I promise I won't ramble on and on like I've done today! Well, MAYBE.
All right, any questions, cuz he sounds exactly right, why i made the switch. By the way I love peat and maybe it is bad for the envonment but I am an ANT, lol, when it comes to the peat industry so earth can say she owes me this one for putting up with my ac bill this month.
edit: what he means is to amend the peat with blood and bone too. He is wrong about the soil web being not viable in the pot with soil in there. He rambles but he right about the greater air and less comnpaction. Soiless peat havily amended with blood, bone, and kelp, dolomite, azomite, and perlite witht he addtion of bacteria and myco and compost for bacteria and myco are a good idea and I am having great results.