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:
"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
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.
8845 SEPULVEDA BLVD
SEPULVEDA, CA 91343
818-894-8301
or
HYDROSCAPE 16 CANOGA PARK
8103 CANOGA AVECANOGA 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.
Thank you so much for all of the great information you have provided!!
I'll keep you informed on what I find!
Thanks again,
Candice
p.s. I really enjoy your website
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I have found ProMix at my Ace Hardware store, that all I use in my planters.
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Excellent! Thanks for the info Sher.
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Gorgeous! Beautifully symmetrical. I love the tie-in with the gate and how it goes right into the garden as you walk in. The bamboo siding is a very nice touch as well.
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i would like to know if you know of any place in los angeles county,CA, that will sell ORGANIC potting mix in BULK, not in bags. i am trying to find a place that will sell them in wholesale or sth, so its not so EXPENSIVE. i will need a lot of bags if i buy the typical bags they sell everywhere.
thanks, milena.
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Hi Milena,
I've been looking long and hard for a really good bulk organic potting mix and I haven't found it yet. You can go to C & S Nursery on Hauser, near La Cienega and buy their bulk vegetable planting mix by the "skip". It has a higher organic content than regular top soils or potting mixes. It's not of the caliber that I like to use in my gardens though, as is the case with most bulk commercially available potting mixes.
Not to discourage you, but if you haven't read about the recent reports on sewage sludge in store bought organic compost, you might want to take a look at the recent blog entry I posted about this:
You might was to contact Tim Dundon, the Guru of Doo-doo and get a truckload of his home-grown compost. It's good stuff and you can bet it's pure. Last I heard he is still delivering a truckload for $80. His phone number is available on the internet if you do a Google search.
I recently met with the folks at Malibu Compost and they suggest that adding some of their bio-dynamic compost to regular organic composts and potting soils will help inoculate the mix with amazing microbial life that will help heal your soil's eco-system. They are also planning to start selling a bio-dynamic potting mix in June. Gardenerd.com will be a distributor very shortly.
I hope this helps!
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It's tough finding the right potting soil. I've tried different types and I came to a conclusion: depending on the type of the plant, the soil should be different.
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