Awesome Potting Soil Mixes and Amendments for your Garden
It’s that time of year when we start gardening and digging in the soil! But if your soil is like mine it needs some help. Going to a local garden center for potting soil and digging it into your garden sounds easy enough. So you head out to the garden center, grab a bag, dig it in and sow your seeds then in a few weeks you are ready to start harvesting your bounty – that is your plan. Wrong. It should be that easy. But if you grab the wrong bag of potting soil your plants might not ever grow or may not produce a large harvest. There are some really awesome potting soil mixes and amendments out there, here are my favorites and my tips.
First, buy organic. It really does make a difference. There are many amazing organic potting soils and amendments on the market that there really isn’t a need to use synthetic chemicals. One easy way to know if what you are buying is organic, is that the numbers on the soil amendment will read something like 4-6-3 or 0-15-0 and not 10-10-10. Nothing in nature is that perfect!
Hands down, one of the best organic potting soils on the market is Black Gold. They not only make potting soil, but also seedling starting mix, and larger bags of garden soil. These are great to till into garden beds to give the existing soil additional nutrients. Black Gold packs an amazing amount of organic materials including compost, perlite, vermiculite, and pumice into every bag. This helps ensure mighty plant growth and optimal soil health.
Black Gold 16-Quart All Organic Potting Soil
I’m also a big fan of Fox Farm and their organic fertilizers, amendments, and potting soils. Their liquid fertilizers are packed full of nutrients that the plant can easily uptake when they need them. With synthetic fertilizers, you run the risk of burning the roots if you apply too much at one time. That doesn’t occur with organic ones as the plant will only use what it needs when it needs it.
FoxFarm Big Bloom, Grow Big & Tiger Bloom Liquid Fertilizer Nutrient
Here is a short list of what organic amendments and fertilizers you should use in your backyard garden:
- Bone Meal – Promotes healthy root growth as it is a great source of phosphorous
- Blood Meal – Promotes healthy leaves and fruit development as a source of nitrogen
- Earthworm Castings
- Fish Emulsion
- Compost
Happy Gardening and oh – let me know how your garden grows!
We don’t have a garden yet, but I will keep these tips in mind for the future. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
Great tips! Thanks for sharing at Idea Box.
I started gardening two months ago and I’m sticking with organic materials, too. It gets some eye rolls from people (ahem – the Home Depot gardener when I asked him for some organic, safe insect deterrents), but it’s what I prefer.
Thanks for sharing this information! I learned something new about gardening today! Thanks!
I found your post at Inspire Me Monday.
These are some very helpful tips. Thanks so much for sharing them.
Thanks for these helpful tips! I’m always looking for ways to improve my soil organically. I’ve been composting all year and have some good material to add to my soil this spring. I’m also going to try some of your suggested amendments in my vegetable garden this year.