Journal April 4, 2015 - Mixing soil for container growing

The soil mix I have been using for the olives works so well I have decided to use it for all of my container plants.  Today I mixed another batch to pot up some annuals for the garden, tomatoes and some peppers that are just germinating.

Using a five quart container I placed equal parts of course builder's sand, sphamgum  moss, agricultural perlite and humus in a large tub for mixing.

After thoroughly mixing I place enough soil for what I intend to plant in a container, adding a little water, just enough to moisten the mixture.  I find that the mix readily takes and holds water much better than commercially prepared potting soil.  

The seedlings in the above photo are pinwheel zinnias that will be planted in our annual garden.  They have been planted in 3" pots and will be placed in the greenhouse until they can be placed outdoors.