You’ve probably never considered dirt much. Beyond hearing your mom say, “don’t track dirt in the house!” or your brief experience making mud pies when you were a kid, did you ever give it any thought? No. Any why would you?
But dirt, or soil as we say in the agriculture world, is often the most important consideration you will make as you grow food on your own property.
And it starts here – when you fill those cute little containers.
Buy Potting Soil – or Seed Starting Mix!
Don’t attempt to dig up soil from your back yard. Don’t buy topsoil. Don’t use compost or whatever you found in an old pot in the garage. Potting soil is for pots. And it is important that you use it to give your seeds the best chance to turn into thriving, healthy seedlings.
Potting soil is inexpensive and usually you don’t need much. This is my favorite brand, but if you pick up potting soil at a store near you – try and buy organic!
It tends to come in small bags at the garden center and it never looks like it will go very far. Those bags are so misleading – you’ll have plenty and probably some leftover, so don’t feel like you need to find an extra large bag.
Potting soil is light, which is critical. Seeds are tiny things and you should treat them like babies. It takes all their strength to push to the surface in search of sunlight, so heavy soil or clay like you may find in your yard is not a good choice. Potting soil is loamy and often has vermiculite mixed in it.
It will usually have some fertilizer included which will help feed those seedlings for the first few weeks of growth.
When you are ready to plant seeds, fill your trays, pots or other container ¾ full of potting soil and soak it thoroughly. It should drain quickly. Soak it a second time to make sure it is wet all the way through. Place your containers in a plastic tray or other surface that holds water. This will allow the containers to regulate their water content through the holes in the bottoms.
Now you are ready to purchase seeds! Read all about it here.
