I would like to grow a few vegetables in containers. Can I use garden soil or should I purchase a commercial potting mi (2024)

FAQs

I would like to grow a few vegetables in containers. Can I use garden soil or should I purchase a commercial potting mi? ›

Buy a commercial potting soil, instead of using garden soil. Garden soil tends to be much heavier and can contain contaminates like weed seeds and insect larvae. If the site is in full sun, you may want to add some of the water absorbing polymers in with the soil to help it retain moisture.

To grow a successful container vegetable garden, start with great soil—not soil from your yard, but what's known as a potting mix. These mixes, like Miracle-Gro® Potting Soil, contain the right blend of materials like coir, peat moss and/or compost to create an ideal growing environment for roots inside a pot.

Garden soil alone is not a good growing medium. Garden soil compacts when placed in a container, resulting in poor water drainage and aeration. Soil also pulls away from the inside of the container when it dries, making it difficult to properly water plants.

Soil taken from your yard or a garden bed is too dense to use in a pot or raised bed. Instead, for containers, you'll want to use potting mix (also called potting soil), a lightweight and fluffy alternative. For raised beds, you'll want to use a blend of potting mix and garden soil.

Can You Use Garden Soil as a Substitute for Potting Soil or Vice-versa? Yes, you could use either garden soil or potting soil to grow outdoor plants. However, potting soil is a better choice as a growing medium as it's specifically created to support plant growth.

Gardening magazine's trial of the best soil mixture for raised beds found that a blend of 50% topsoil, 25% coarse sand and 25% compost was best.

If you use garden soil, such as Miracle Gro Garden soil or Vigoro Garden soil you may run into some problems. Garden soil is simply too heavy, making containers much harder to move around than if you used potting mix. That extra weight will lead to compaction from watering.

Garden soils are typically intended for use in the ground and contain minerals and organic matter. They are not a good choice for containers because the soil can quickly become compacted and waterlogged, reducing air space around the roots. This can lead to poor or stunted growth.

Standard garden soil is not suited for use in containers because it compacts easily and prevents proper aeration and drainage, causing plants to become stunted or even die. You must use a good potting mix instead – one that gives plants just the right combination of air, moisture, nutrition and support.

Can I use Miracle-Gro garden soil in a raised bed? ›

It is not really a 'soil' - more of an amendment - and the label recommends it be mixed with regular garden soil rather than used as a standalone product. Those who used it for raised beds reported uniformly unsatisfactory results.

As we mentioned, garden soil contains bacteria and microbes. While these are beneficial to soil outdoors, it is far less sanitary to introduce bacteria into your home. For this reason, a significant difference between potting soil vs garden soil is that potting soil is completely sterile.

Topsoil is excellent for landscaping and filling spaces, but potting soil is better if you need a growing medium for container plants. And if you want an Earth-positive soil that's beneficial for any potted plant, you'll love Rosy's Indoor Potting Mix.

Potting soil can be mixed with garden soil for particular cases such as raised beds, but it's not a good mix for containers. Learn more about these different types of soil and how to use them in various types of gardens.

Potting Mix is formulated to feed the soil for plants growing in indoor and outdoor containers, while Raised Bed Soil with its slightly larger particle size, has versatile uses for both larger containers and raised bed gardening.

What sort of soil should I use? Commercial potting mixes work well for most vegetables. They are typically light weight, high in organic matter and well-drained, containing a combination of compost, peat moss, bark, perlite or other similar materials.

It's a good idea not to use these products interchangeably. Soil-free potting mix is for containers and potting soil is formulated for in-ground use. Using potting mix in the ground won't hurt plants, but potting soil better supports plants growing in the ground.

Out of these, loamy soil is the best soil for vegetable gardens as it promotes the growth of almost all types of vegetables. This doesn't mean you can't grow vegetables in other soils.