Container Mix...mix your own

kevrow73 · March 10, 2016

Last year I made the mistake of adding soil to to my container mix. Through the summer the mix remained moist which I thought was good at the time. My yield of tomatoes was however poorer than normal and on pulling up the plants at the end of the season I found that the root ball on each plant was very small compared to normal.
There’s a thread I’ve read here regarding seedlings needing good drainage. By increasing the drainage properties of the mix and not overwatering, the roots are forced to grow longer to look for water and with that you get a healthier plant.
I’m guessing that the same applies to adult plants, if I’m wrong please correct me, in any case I won’t be making the same mistake again.

March 10, 2016	#33
kevrow73 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Wales Posts: 66	Adding soil in the mix Last year I made the mistake of adding soil to to my container mix. Through the summer the mix remained moist which I thought was good at the time. My yield of tomatoes was however poorer than normal and on pulling up the plants at the end of the season I found that the root ball on each plant was very small compared to normal. There’s a thread I’ve read here regarding seedlings needing good drainage. By increasing the drainage properties of the mix and not overwatering, the roots are forced to grow longer to look for water and with that you get a healthier plant. I’m guessing that the same applies to adult plants, if I’m wrong please correct me, in any case I won’t be making the same mistake again.