Garden

[fresh kitty]

I know how important garden soil is with the plants and vegetables. So should you use garden soil for vegetables and potting soil for hanging annuals plants. I buy Miracle grow soil each season in potting and garden soils. I ordered Butterfly bushes that I want to put in pots on my patio so what soil do I use? In the past everything in my pots die out and don't come back even though they are perennials. I try so hard but I haven't had much success between the Japanese beetles, slugs etc. 

[mimomof4]

We buy the Miracle Grow blue bag (I can't remember the specific formula) every year for our pots, hanging baskets and for planting in our garden.  Admittedly my husband has the green thumb and is responsible for taking care of everything and my yard looks beautiful.

Honestly I have had a horrible experience with the plants we ordered from QVC last year.  Hubby wanted a few so I ordered what he wanted.  I will never do that again, instead I'm sticking with our local greenhouses. 

[fthunt]

I use Miracle Grow potting soil for everything.  It's pricey but has fertilizer built in for 6 months of growing season.  Regular bags of soil is just that - dirt.  Then you have buy and add the food (fertilizer).

Slug problem:  get a bag of Slug Be-Gone or some such name - and mix it in the Miracle Grow soil when you're preparing the soil for planting.  I've had great luck with it.

Japanese Beetles - buy a can of spray for them and apply prior to their arrival or when you first see them.......or..........if you have a real problem - buy and hang a Beetle Bag way out to the end of your property.  Bag will attract lots of Beetles but they love the s*x smell and go in the bag.......to never get out again. 

P.S. Butterfly bushes get real big - not sure about container planting for those.  Perhaps it's okay; but I'm no expert.  Happy Gardening

[gardenman]

As a general rule, you want to use soilless potting mixes in containers. Soil (topsoil, garden soil, potting soil) tends to compact and become a problem in containers. Where life gets complicated is some soil is sold as potting mixes. An easy way to tell the two apart is soil is typically sold by weight (pounds) while potting mixes are sold by volume (quarts, cubic feet). If the bags are stored in a dry space, the soil will be heavier than the mixes. If they're out in the rain or have been, then all bets are off. Potting mixes can get really heavy when wet.

As to perennials surviving in pots over winter, there are lots of variables. Too much water, not enough water, pests nibbling on the roots, the roots freezing (roots in containers freeze harder than roots in the ground) and the hardiness of the plants all play a role. Some perennials are not all that perennial whether they're in the ground or in pots. Some plants you can pretty much leave completely exposed and they'll find a way to live. Others look for any excuse to check out. Most perennials aren't a plant you can plant once and never have to worry about. Some are really tough and strong. Most tend to be more iffy. 

[JustJazzmom]

Regular garden soil contains microbes & fungi that may interfere with survival of certain plants like perennials or annuals in pots. Some perennials like butterfly bushes which are shrubs do best in the ground itself. 
Some plants need the coldness of the ground to set blooms for the following year, and if they are in a pot with the winter air circulating around it, could dry out the roots & soil & it might not come out of dormancy because it will be dead! Best to put your potted butterfly bushes into an unheated garage for the winter months with monthly deep watering. 

When you start to see new growth emerging in the spring, put the pot into a shaded area until the weather warms up & once it does, put it into a sunny area. 

[VegasBusinessWoman]

I have a butterfly bush in my yard that I planted probably 20 years ago.  There is no way it would have survived for any length of time in a pot--those guys get REALLY big!  

Having said that, it depends on the size of your plant to begin with. If you get your bush in a teeny little 4 inch pot, then yes, plant it in a one gallon container and move it to bigger containers over the growing season.  In August or September, if it is filling at least a one gallon pot, then plant it and mulch it for the winter.

I buy a lot of nursery stock online because our local selection tends to

be so repetitive, limited and boring.  Those little 2- to 4-inch mail order pots are not ready for life in the desert, so I pot them up over the winter or summer and grow them out for a season until they are big enough to tough it out on the garden bed.

My experience has been that potted perennials or shrubs are usually not good for more than a season in pots unless you keep potting them on and minding them really closely.  

[lovesrecess]

I buy the huge bag of Miracle-gro potting soil at Costco. It’s been $9.99 a bag for years and two bags lasts me from spring until fall for my planters. Starbucks will give you a bag of used coffee grounds for free....I put them around my hydrangeas in my flowerbeds and it keeps the snails and slugs away from them. The only thing I have found that works..and the flowerbed smells good! Have not really had any bug problems with anything in my pots...also make sure your pots have adequate drainage in the bottom.

[fresh kitty]

Thanks for the information I find it very helpful and much appreciated. I forgot about the coffee ground my father would save them for the garden brought back good memories. I forgot to order my lawn grub treatment this year. When you live in the county it like you being attacked from all the critters. I have to tell you about the Japanese beetle bags that someone mentioned. I bought them at Steins and the beetles came by the thousands and you couldn't go outside without being attacked. It was so gross and now I see the locust in Africa and the bats in Australia so I know how they feel.

[Dazlin]

I mostly buy JUNGLE GROWTH SOIL. It's in a large green bag. I buy at Lowe's. In addition, I always use a small amount of fertilizer when first potting...then periodically according to each plants needs. Most plants do well, yet one or two never take off...its just the way it goes. I recently potted some Pentas, all bought from Lowes, all potted the same, all have sun and care, yet I'm seeing one that looks lousy🤷‍♀️

[gardenman]

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@Dazlin wrote:
I mostly buy JUNGLE GROWTH SOIL. It's in a large green bag. I buy at Lowe's. In addition, I always use a small amount of fertilizer when first potting...then periodically according to each plants needs. Most plants do well, yet one or two never take off...its just the way it goes. I recently potted some Pentas, all bought from Lowes, all potted the same, all have sun and care, yet I'm seeing one that looks lousy🤷‍♀️

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Just a note on how some commercial greenhouses work and how that can affect the plants you buy. Here in NJ commercial greenhouses never like to sit empty. At the end of the bedding plant season they transition to garden mums, christmas cacti, and poinsettias. Between Halloween and Thanksgiving they'll often switch to bedding plants. At the end of January (or so) those bedding plants get sprayed with a heavy dose of a PGR (plant growth regulator) to make them go dormant and they're put into cold storage. The Easter flowering bulbs that had been in cold storage then come out and fill the greenhouses.  When the Easter plants move out to retailers the PGR treated plants come back to the greenhouses for finishing, but it's not unusual for some to not break dormancy once they're back in the greenhouse. In some cases the effects of the PGR lingers long after you want the plants to grow.

I've had bedding plants from commercial greenhouses that pretty much stayed the exact same size the entire growing season. They might as well have been artificial plants. They were just never able to break out of the PGR induced dormancy. It's one reason why I prefer to grow my own plants without any PGRs. Some commercially grown bedding plants may get sprayed with growth inhibitors multiple times before reaching market. Once before going into cold storage, another time or two if there are no buyers, if they're growing too quickly, or if there's a late start to the plant buying season. When you buy that perfect plant at the garden center, it may still be locked into a dormant state that it just can't shed when planted in your garden.