One of the classic gifts for Mothers’ Day is a beautiful plant. Whether it’s an indoor or outdoor plant, I love it when my mum takes the plant I’ve given her and keeps it. Even 15 years later, we still point to a lilac bush and say “this was from Mother’s Day 2001.” At the risk of sounding cheesy, the plant has grown and matured under my mother’s care, in the same way I did. As we’ve talked about over the last few weeks, the key to gardening success is really what’s underneath – in the soil and roots; this is particularly true with container gardening as they are drawing nutrients from a smaller space. So turn to a specially designed potting mix that will set the plant up for continued growth. You want to use soil meant for container gardening because those soils are designed to drain well, to feed the specific plants the soil has been designed for, and to be lighter than traditional garden soil.
PRO-MIX® Premium Potting Mix is great for container planting. It can be used both indoors and outdoors and is formulated to provide optimal drainage and aeration. It also contains slow-release fertilizers that will feed plants for up to 9 months. The addition of MYCOACTIVE® promotes healthy root growth that aids in nutrient and water uptake to produce strong growth and improve your plant’s immune system. Whether you are starting seeds indoors to transplant outdoors, or gardening in outdoor containers, PRO-MIX® Premium Potting Mix can be used to provide your plants with the healthy soil they need to produce the best growth. It can be used on just about any plant, including annuals, perennials, tropicals and even hardy trees and shrubs.
If you give Mum a more ornamental plant for her year-round enjoyment indoors – such as an orchid, African violet, cactus, or tropical plants – PRO-MIX® offers premium potting mixes designed to promote the health and growth of specific plants. Unique ingredients, which are specially chosen for specific indoor plant types, promote the conditions necessary for the roots of your indoor plants to be healthy, leading to better water and nutrient uptake and resulting in bigger, healthier plants. Look for the PRO-MIX® indoor potting soil mix specific to the plants you will be growing.
A common question is how often to replace the soil in containers. For small indoor plants, you typically want to replace this soil annually; usually in the late fall before it goes into a slow growth period during the winter. To replace the soil, carefully lift the plant and roots out of the pot. Any soil attached to the roots is okay to keep. Throw the rest of the soil into your compost, or onto your garden or lawn and refill the pot with new PRO-MIX® Potting mix. This makes sure the drainage will still be good for your plant and help to replace the nutrients used by the plant over the year. For larger containers or pots, take out as much loose soil as there is on top (that’s not attached to the roots) and replace it with new PRO-MIX® Potting Mix. Again, the old soil can be used on your lawn or garden (or into your compost pile).
For your large outdoor annual containers, you probably want to mix in about a quarter of new potting soil every year as annuals are heavy feeders so they pull lots of nutrients out of the soil. Once the annuals have finished their season, take out a quarter to a half of the soil, and replace with new PRO-MIX® potting mix. Till in the new soil and then you’re ready to plant the new annuals. However, if your soil is heavy or too dry, you may need to add more fresh soil. The other occasion where you should replace more of your container soil is if your plants get diseases or excessive weed growth. In that case, to keep the new plants from getting the same diseases, you may want to dispose of all of the old potting mix and start with new, fresh soil in the spring.
Using the right potting mix for your indoor and outdoor container plants, such as PRO-MIX® potting soils will mean Mum can look out at her plants for years to come and smile!
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