Ok, here's some of Tania's posts about mixes....
Soil mix
Seed starting:
It used to be Promix HP for me. Not anymore. It was a great mix for seed starting, but pepper seedlings will not thrive in it.
We now make a mix from 75% coco coir and 25% perlite. Works so much better for pepper seedlings! When potting up, we just add 50% compost.
Tatiana
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This was about a hugleculture bed..and I don't know if I spelled it right.
We got our first one going, made from hemlock logs, branches, coffee grinds, and kitchen waste. There will be a dwarf apple tree (Honeycrisp) planted there in the near future (next to the mound). The bed is getting about 6 hrs of sun, which is A LOT in our shady garden in the middle of the woods!
perlite, vermiculite, and peat moss are all great additions to your potting mix - they make it light, fluffy, with high porosity and good drainage.
Tania's container mix
I prefer 3:2:1 mix of peat moss, perlite and vermiculite and then mix it with the same amount of comport or composted manure. This mixture works very well for tomatoes and anything else I grow in pots.
I am sure that addition of peat moss and vermiculite will help you, but I good compost is better than garden soil, as it contains lots of good nutrients to support the plant growth.
I add some alfalfa meal (you can add blood meal instead), a bit of lime, and bone meal to the mix. Later I may also occasionally water with some diluted natural goodies rich in N-P-K and Ca (i.e. alfalfa tea, kelp, liquid fish, diluted yogurt leftovers, etc). Tomatoes love it.
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