If you don't have a garden or greenhouse, you don't have to go without home-grown vegetables. Tomatoes, zucchini and peppers, for example, thrive in pots and boxes on the balcony in the right soil. Can potting soil also be used for growing vegetables?
Which potting soil to use for vegetables?
Use well-drained, loose potting soil for the vegetables. Good soil contains humus, lime or peat as well as fibers from wood and compost. The potting soil can store water. It gives the potted plants a secure hold. You can also upgrade older potting soil with mature compost.
Properties of potting soil
Basically, the potting soil is intended for the cultivation of potted plants. It contains peat or humus, lime, compost, fibers from wood or coconut and an NPK fertilizer to provide the plant with initial care. This fertilizer consists of nitrogen N, phosphate P and potassium K. If there is a lot of peat in the potting soil, the trace elements are often not enough. This can be improved by adding primary rock powder (€17.00 at Amazon).
Potting soil is loose, well-drained, stores water and gives the potted plants good support thanks to its firm structure.
Contrary to some assumptions that potting soil could contain harmful substances, it is clear that there are no harmfulcontents in the potting soil. Vegetables grown there are therefore safe to eat.
Soil for potted vegetables
Various special soils for vegetables are offered in garden centers. However, these are quite expensive. If you want to save money, you can also use conventional universal or potting soil, which can be enhanced with mature compost. The compost comes either from your own compost box or from the regional recycling center.
In any case, care must be taken to ensure that the improved potting soil is fertilized regularly, because vegetable plants place different demands on the soil than flowers. In addition, the soil should be loose but stable so that the plants can grow well. If the soil packs tightly together when watering, the potting soil used is not very good. Substances must be incorporated here to loosen it. Compost, humus or fiber materials are suitable for this.
Sowing or growing soil
If vegetables are to be grown by sowing seeds, it is recommended to use a special soil that has been specially mixed for growing seedlings. Growing soil is different from normal garden, plant and or potting soil by:
- low nutrient supply, too many fertilizers would damage the seedlings by growing too quickly
- a loose and fine-grained soil texture
- the absence of fungal spores, bacteria and other pests, can be achieved by sterilization
- the lack of germinable seeds and roots of other plants, which take away the nutrition of the young seedlings when they germinate
