Re: Potting soil for substrate

[Heidy Rubin <hrubin at frell_org>]

> Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:24:16 -0500
> From: "Marek" <marekpurgat at sympatico_ca>
> Subject: Potting soil for substrate
> 
> Does anyone have experiences using potting soil as a substrate?
> 
> I like to put 1" of soil at the bottom and cover it with 2.5" of gravel.
>

I have always used laterite as a substrate for growing plants, as this 
was the recommended method when I first started getting serious about 
plants. Since then I have been advised that others have had the same 
results using potting soil as a substrate. I decided to test this for 
myself and have found that the potting soil works just as well. The 
plants with the potting soil substrate are very healthy and are growing 
the same as the ones in the laterite substrate. You do have to be 
careful not to select a potting mix that is very high in phosphates, 
like those used for orchids.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers,
Heidy