From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Prairie Du Sac Wi

I was wondering if any of you use potting mix at your planting site. Like pro mix bx that so many use for seed starting. If its that good for the first weeks of your plants life,why not let the main root ball grow in it the whole life of the plant? I know cost would be a factor . As an example in 2013 I grew a 4.88 tomato in a pot of MG potting soil on my porch with only 3 hours of sun.it was my first try at a giant tomato (it weighed 4.5 after storing it for the weigh off and got me a first place). I'm just thinking of applying that to my vineing plants next year. (But not in pots'lol).

Any thoughts?

11/24/2014 11:12:45 PM

Eurasia

Plants love to have good contact to the soil water after set out! And so I mix loam with dolomite and potting mix for the mound and spray magnesium-phosphonate, potassium-phosphonate and a little aminos and many trace minerals into the whole, where the root ball is implanted.

11/25/2014 7:42:52 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Hinthere, pro mix is a soiless starting medium, it has no nutrients to support long term growth. Miracle grow is packed full of fertilizer which works good in a container situation where you just discard and use new mix from year to year. Pumpkin seedlings grow well in pro mix because they are utilizing the sugar energy stored in the seed. Once that energy is gone the plant will die without external nutrients. Pumpkin growers on this site spend a lot of time and money improving and balancing their entire patch soil. It is not desirable to modify a very small area (the most important area) thereby wasting all efforts to get your soil perfect. You are free to take ludwig's advice, but you are also free to piss in the wind too if that's what you're in to.

11/25/2014 9:41:38 AM

Wixom MI.

Catond i am very impressed that you grew a 4.88 lbs. Tomato in a pot. I was planning to try the same thing myself last year but never got around to it. Now this year you convinced me to try it. I think that i could control the nutrients much better this way and i think dan proved that you can grow on a smaller plant. I agree with you that mixing pro mix into the soil would be a good idea, how much would you use in a 20x20 area ? Maybe 4-5 bails ? That could be a few hundred dollars just for a small area like that, but i think that it could be worth a try ! I think that i may give it a try myself ?

11/25/2014 9:59:45 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

The last few years I have been using a mix of potting soil, Jiffy Mix, worm castings, Jobes Organics, Espoma Starter Plus and Pumpkin Pro in the bottom half of the peat pots and in the planting hole. The top half of the peat pot is straight Jiffy Mix to prevent damping off. So far, my pumpkins and long gourds get off to a much faster start. The weather has been unkind to my pumpkins, but I did get a personal best 3 years ago and even finished in 7th place at Anamosa in a drought year in 2013. My gourds have been fantastic the past 2 years. I think that anything that gets the roots and plant off to a fast healthy start is good. I see more benefits to the gourds, since they don't get rooted along the ground like pumpkins. Pumpkins need to have good soil over the whole patch like Orangeneck says. But I don't think that a little extra in the spot that has the main roots for the whole season will hurt.

11/25/2014 11:14:16 AM

Eurasia

@orangeneck
Didn´t you know, that magnesium is the stuff for better root development and to grow long roots?
You can read, that I recommended giving magnesium twice - with dolomite mixed in and Mg-phosphonite drenched.
In the pot we have poor potting substrate but nothinhg for good soil contact. And so I mix loam with some clay for better water storage. At the planting site I fill in the loam with poor substrate and give all trace elements needed and NPK + much Mg mineralized enough for a best root development.
I want the plant to grow fast and not to sit on perfect substrate, which has to be watered tree times every day.

11/25/2014 1:05:02 PM

Seattle, WA

If you want to use peat moss then you're much better off just buying it as peat rather than the Pro Mix. Peat has good microbial content, good CEC and pH, and some nutrients. Pro mix is not much more than peat cut with some perlite and a small amount of mycorrhiza and a surfactant. I buy the Alaskan Peat 3.8 cubic ft bales for mixing soils and they cost me around $12 each. They expand to approximately 6 cubic ft.

That being said, I'm more inclined to agree with Organgeneck. Since pumpkins will root throughout your entire patch, it makes sense to amend your patch accordingly. If I were to use peat, I would also be adding a variety of nutrient and mineral amendments, as well as an aeration component and compost if I was trying to grow strictly in that as my media and not in the ground or using existing native soils.

11/25/2014 3:29:50 PM

Seattle, WA

Keep in mind that peat is hydrophobic too, meaning that if it dries out you have to water slowly to re-wet it, otherwise the water will drain right through.

11/25/2014 3:30:58 PM

Omaha, Ne.

I used compost and large bags of perlite

11/25/2014 7:32:16 PM

derry n.h u.s.a.

i used pro mix bx in my growing mound,2 3.8 cu/ft bales.also added dried blood,bone meal,crab shell meal,kelp meal,actinovate every two weeks through out the season ,instead of burying my vines trenched in the soil,i pitchforked the soil under the vines and buried the leaf nodes using pro mix (this was somewhat expensive i used over 12 bales durying the season)what did i get out of it? i have a small plot about 1000 sq/ft have been stuck in the 1000lb range for years.I grow 2 plants. the plant grown in the pro mix(2 bale base)1303 lb huge crown no blowouts or splits very healthy looking plant.the other plant had no pro mix base but did get the vines buried in pm average size crown or base pumpkin was 1058 lb. so next season both plots will be pm based.and lots of soil bactiera added. hope this helps.John

11/28/2014 10:10:40 AM

Prairie Du Sac Wi

Thank you guys for all the input. I'm renting a large spot for growing next year and haven't gotten much work done there with the soil.so that's why I was thinking of using a mix in the mound and for burying.

John. So happy you posted. What you did with your plant was almost exactly what I was planning on doing.I think I'll make my own mix to save money .Thanks Tad12

11/29/2014 12:07:58 PM