For all the time I spend looking at various techniques and growing tips, I know shockingly little about soil, especially when you buy it at a garden center. Lemmy has treated me quite well every time I’ve asked for gardening advice, so once again I come to all of you to ask: What exactly differentiates potting mix and in-ground soil? What should I be looking for when purchasing soil? Is the type I choose all that important? Enlighten me soil scientists, and add any other fun tidbits you think I should know.
I’ll preface this with I’m by no means a professional soil scientist, but I am an avid gardener. The best type of soil for your purpose depends on a ton of variables. Are you adding to existing soil? Are you planting in-ground, in a pot, or a raised bed? How much moisture do you need to retain? What type of soil is best suited for the specific plants you’re planting? What pH do they need to thrive?
If you’re planting a standard vegetable garden, you’ll probably go with a compost-rich loamy soil. If I were to dig a hole in my clay yard and fill it with that kind of soil though, it’d form a “bowl” and drain poorly, leading to root rot. I use raised beds to avoid this problem.
If you want to get wonky, the native soil where I live is ustert vertisol. You can learn about the different soil categories here. Here’s a map of general soil order locations in the US. You can even check out the USDA’s Web Soil Survey and map out your address to see what soil formation you’re on.