The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1198314
A-8 Opinion Wednesday, Januar y 8, 2020 The Press-Dispatch Quality potting mixes should be light, fluffy and moist to keep plants, like this coleus, healthy. Select a quality potting mix for gardening success By Melinda Myers Improve your indoor and outdoor container garden- ing success with a quality potting mix. This can be more difficult than it sounds since you can't see or feel the product you are about to buy. Ask your garden- ing friends for recommen- dations and once at the gar- den center, check the pack- age and compare label in- formation before making a purchase. You'll find a variety of bags labeled as planting mix, potting mix, container mix and more. Check the la- bel to see what the bag con- tains and recommendations for its use. Look for mixes, we'll refer to as potting mix- es, blended for growing in- door, ornamental and ed- ible plants in containers. They are a mix of organ- ic and inorganic materials that retain moisture while draining well. Some mixes include sand and mineral soil while many are labeled as "soilless." These light- weight mixes consist of peat moss, sphagnum moss and compost for moisture re- tention, vermiculite or per- lite for drainage but do not contain mineral soils such as sand or clay. Potting mixes may be modified to accommodate the needs of certain plants. Orchid mixes often contain more bark for better aera- tion, cacti and succulent mixes have more sand or perlite for better drainage and A frican violet potting mix contains more organ- ic matter to create a moist, rich growing medium. Organic potting mix- es are also available if you prefer to know the ingredi- ents are free of pesticides and other contaminants. Check for the word organic and OMRI listed on the bag. Potting mixes may or may not be sterilized to kill weed seeds and pests. If it doesn't say sterilized, it probably isn't. As you narrow down your choices, continue checking the label for more details. Potting mixes often contain a "starter charge" of fertiliz- er. This minimal amount of fertilizer is usually gone af- ter two or three waterings. Some include additional fer- tilizer that provides small amounts of nutrients over a longer period of time. The label may say controlled-re- lease, time-release or slow release fertilizer, providing nutrients for the allotment of time specified. Natural or synthetic wet- ting agents are often in- cluded to reduce the sur- face tension of water, so it's better able to penetrate and evenly moisten the potting mix. Organic mixes often use yucca extract as a wet- ting agent. Potting mixes should be light, fluffy and moist. Avoid bags that are water- logged and heavy. The mix can break down, become compacted and some of the slow release fertilizer may be pre-released and damage young seedlings when satu- rated with water. Moisten the potting mix with warm water before potting your plants. This helps ensure even mois- ture throughout. If the pot- ting mix becomes over- ly dry, you may need to do a bit more work to rewet all the mix in the contain- er. Set the pot in a contain- er of warm water and wait for the potting mix to rehy- drate. Or water thorough- ly, wait 20 minutes and wa- ter again. Repeat until you achieve success. Take the time to do a bit of research before buy- ing your next bag of pot- ting mix. Your efforts will be rewarded with healthy plants, beautiful blooms and a bountiful harvest from your indoor and out- door potted plants. Melinda Myers has writ- ten numerous books, includ- ing Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Cours- es "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the national- ly-syndicated Melinda's Gar- den Moment TV & radio pro- gram. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and her website is www.Me- lindaMyers.com. Winslow girl scouts donate blankets to area fire departments By Dennis Marshall The Winslow Girl Scouts recently donated blankets to several area departments. The troop presented a to- tal of 18 blankets, with four adult's blankets and two children's blankets going to each respective department of Winslow, Patoka and Pe- tersburg Fire Departments, during a ceremony at the House of Mercy in Winslow on Monday, Jan. 6. The troop came up with the idea after word spread of a recent fire that affected a local family. "The girls came up with a couple different ideas on what they wanted to do to help," Winslow Girl Scout leader Robyn Weyer said. "We voted and making blan- kets for the fire departments was what we decided to do." The troop made blankets for the different fire depart- ments because members are serviced by all three. Weyer said the troop made the blankets during the course of three of their meetings and spent about four or five total hours mak- ing the blankets. Members of the troop measured, cut, tied and sewed the blankets that will be part of each department's emergency kit. "Whenever there is a fire at night, a lot of times fami- lies just get out of the house," Weyer said. "They could be in pajamas or not have hardly anything on them. So hopefully these blankets can keep them warm while the firefighters are putting out the fire, because a lot of times they run low on blan- kets because they have so many fires where they hand them out. We hope we can help out with that." All three departments were appreciative of the troop's donation. "They all told the girls thank you and they were so proud of them for remem- bering them and helping them," Weyer said. "They are actually going to come do an educational event for the girls and take them for a ride on the fire truck." Many members of the troop said they hope their actions will encourage oth- er members of the commu- nity to do what they can to help local organizations like the fire departments. "A lot of people just think of cookies when they think of the girl scouts," Weyer said. "We do raise a lot of money off of the cookies, but [scouts] is also about learn- ing through service on how to be a contributing member of a community, developing good leadership skills and volunteering." The Winslow Girl Scout Troop presents representatives from the Winslow, Patoka and Petersburg fire departments with blankets at the House of Mercy in Winslow on Monday, Jan. 6. Those pictured include, front row (l to r): Sophia Goodrich and Ravynne Ca- to; second row: Maddison Braunecker, Emily Henderson, Ayva Richardson, Linette Myers, Danielle Phipps and Briar Bruce; back row: Winslow girl scout leader Arteena Rothrock, Patoka firefighter Tyler Divine, Winslow girl scout leader MaKenna Divine, Pe- tersburg firefighter Cory Roach, Winslow girl scout leader Robyn Weyer and Winslow Fire Chief Jason Bottoms.