Grow your own high-quality vegetables at home using a well-chosen potting soil.
Growing your own vegetables is an excellent alternative to simply purchasing vegetables from the grocery store as you need them. Using home-grown vegetables means you are never in doubt about where the vegetables come from or the conditions under which they were grown. Even given the costs and time investment of growing your own vegetables, using home-grown vegetables is typically cheaper than buying vegetables from a store as you run out. The key to success is careful preparation, including knowing what vegetables grow in your climate, using the right growing medium and choosing the right potting soil. Does this Spark an idea?
Garden Soil
Using soil straight out of your garden is generally not advised. Soil that is not fortified by fertilizer or potting soil can lack essential nutrients that vegetables need to grow. Garden soil also tends to be too dry to foster plant growth; its structure does not allow for proper drainage and it can pull away from the walls of a growing medium when it gets dry. Using a potting soil provides all the necessary nutrients to your vegetable plants without any of the risks of using soil straight out of your garden.
Potting Soil
Lightweight potting soils are essential to successful vegetable growth. There is some variation depending on what types of vegetables you are growing, of course, but in general vegetables prefer a porous potting soil that allows for proper drainage and aeration but that still retains a good amount of moisture. Vegetables grow most successfully in a moist, but not water-logged, environment.
Mix Ingredients
A potting soil with a high organic matter content will help retain moisture as the vegetables grow. Look for a soilless mix that includes sphagnum peat moss, composted bark, vermiculite, perlite and sand. Avoid potting soils with a high peat content, as this can create a potting soil that is too lightweight and that does not allow for the plant roots to take hold. Be advised, though, that soilless mixes generally need to be used in conjunction with a fertilizer or other treatment to substitute the nutrients they lack.
Home Mixes
If you are planning on growing a large herb garden, it may be more cost effective to mix your own potting soil. Most of the ingredients of potting soils can be purchased separately in gardening supply stores. A mix that would be ideal for vegetable gardening would include one part peat moss, one part garden loam, and one part sand of a particularly coarse variety. Mix with a slow-release fertilizer. Experiment with this mix for your vegetables. Of course, local experts familiar with the climate and soil conditions in your geographic area can always provide valuable advice as to the best potting soils and mixes to use in a vegetable garden.
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