Soil mix help

[Maestro]

Hello everyone.

I have been reading all the topics on the forum and have learned alot.  But I'm a little nervous about my soil mix.  I live in a very small town and the selection of soil is limited.  This is what the guy at the nursery recommended.

1 part top soil
1 part cotton burr compost
1 part vermiculite
1 part perlite

That sound ok? It seems to be pretty lite and fast draining.  I ordered two plants that should get to me next week, so I still have time if I should change it.  For lighting I have 4   26 w cfls in 8 inch domed work lights.  And I'm also waiting on my plant sucess tablets.  I dunno I'm just wanting to give the plants the best chance I can. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Sea Mac]

I used to use nothing but miracle grow potting soil. But I was told it was bad so I switched to an organic blend with no peat moss.

I discovered that the plants that were potted with no peat moss are very sensitive to being root bound. Over four years The potting soil that has worked best for me has been miracle grow potting soil. Some plants in their baby pots have survived over a year: some of the plants potted in the other soil have died from being root bound already.

So, last week, I bought 4 ft. of miracle grow potting soil: it has drawbacks, but it seems to work best for me! If you can change the plants pots to larger sized pots as soon as they become root bound use an organic soil with no peat moss in it. If your plants may have to remain potted after they become root bound I would recommend using something with a small amount of Peat Moss in it.

It took me over a year to discover that the organic soils are not optimal for long-term potting!

[Jupe]

If your plants are "rootbound" then you are basically growing like a hydro grower would, ferts inputs in, plant mass out.

 Its "probably" not a soil issue as much as a ferts issue........almost all soils run out of their "own" fertilizer in a season or so, and they must be top-dressed with ferts, watered continually with ferts, or repotted with new soils.

 
  If roots are too dense and packed, then plants can't be watered either, and pots have to be soaked in a bucket to get water through them.....

 Some slow growers, like succulents, can go for a few years without additional ferts, but most fast growing tropicals, like ferns, flowers shrubs etc etc. run out in a few months during a warm growing season. ( ferts like Nbreakdown as a function of warmth, and of course plants use N like crazy during growing season)


Many cycads,cactii and palms are grow rootbound, plants roots take up 90% of pot, need cutters and prybars to get pots off...hardly any soil left, just crumbly leftover sand and duff..... its all gone up into  the plant.....these are repotted in 2-4 inch larger size increments, so they can't be overwatered, free up roots abit for new soil, and put 1 inch of time release ferts onto new surface, then water it in.
If ferts inputs are stopped, plants will die.  Organic soil can't save them, I've switched over to time release pellets for small and large  pots,(1-100 gallons sizes) because as compared to liquid,  it makes life a lot easier, (no mixing) and is less wastefull of both ferts and money....most liquid ferts goes right out the bottom of a pot anyways...(Nitrogen wastage is a big issue in commercial operations, as its not cheap, and price of natural gas determines price of nitrogen ferts) anyways.... 1 lb per inch of trunk, turned into the top 1 inch of soil is good for a year of so, unless weather gets hot...as it breaks down quickly in heat.

Plants which drop lower leaves after they turn yellow are nutrient  (N) starved, plant pushes nutrients to top, which is more important than lower leaves.

I used some great "mine reclamation" Nitrogen 38-0-0 this year, non-leaching, non burning, you could leave it out in the sun and it wouldn't go off!!!  Toss it right onto plants....pretty easy.... costs like 70 bucks for a 50 lb bag though (as compared to 35 for regular 20-20-20...but after burning down 8 square feet of patch with too strong ferts, I'm paying a little closer attention.....duh ..my bad.