Potting Soil - where to get the good stuff?

A fellow gardenerd writes in,

"I need to where I can buy a soil-less or peat-lite potting mix (such as ProMix, Sunshine Potting Soils or Fafard Potting Soil). I bought a tree from Logee's and it requires this kind of soil. I can't find it here in Burbank, CA - any suggestions you have would be great!"

Thanks for writing in.  Firstly, a little background info here.

The term potting soil is a misnomer because it doesn't actually contain any soil.  It contains a combination of peat moss, perlite, gypsum, vermiculite, minerals, sand and other organic components, depending on your needs.  So for our purposes here, soilless mix is potting soil. 

Now, after a little research on the internet, I found that Fafard is an east coast company and they don't sell their products within 100 miles of you.  The same goes for ProMix - not found within 100 miles of LA.

Sunshine Potting Soils by Sungro can be found in select cities in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties.  It looks like the nearest one to you is at:
 
GREEN ARROW NURSERIES
8845 SEPULVEDA BLVD
SEPULVEDA, CA 91343
 
818-894-8301

or
HYDROSCAPE 16 CANOGA PARK
8103 CANOGA AVE
CANOGA PARK, CA 91304

818-712-0050

Call first to find out if they have what you are looking for in stock. 

If not, there are plenty of good organic soil mixes available:

E.B. Stone - Edna's Best Potting Mix - available at Armstrong Garden Centers

http://www.ebstone.org/13_ednas.php


Whitney Farms has several options available at Anawalt Lumber and Do It Center (I know there's one in Burbank)among other places

http://www.whitneyfarms.com/products/pottingsoils.shtml#potting


Master Nursery Garden Centers has a great organic soil amendment that I use seasonally called Bumper Crop.  They also make a potting soil called Gardener's Gold.  You can find a Master Nursery Garden Center near you at this site:

http://www.masternursery.com/gardener/index.shtml

If that doesn't satisfy, we'll be building our own soil in the upcoming Gardenerd Organic Gardening Class Series.  Check out the registration page to see if these classes interest you (okay- shameless self-promotion there, I admit.)

Gardenerd Organic Gardening Class Series

Thanks for writing in.  If anyone else has some suggestions about great soilless mixes you've used, feel free to share them here.









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