Why does every container gardening soil recipe have 10 ingredients?

[u/SashaNatureNomad]

Am I the only one who thinks most container gardening advice overcomplicates soil?

I've been growing vegetables in containers for a few years now and every spring I see people recommending these crazy mixes with 8-10 ingredients.

Meanwhile some of the healthiest tomato and pepper plants I've grown were in plain potting mix with extra perlite mixed in.

What actually made the biggest difference for me wasn't fertilizer schedules or fancy amendments. It was stopping the use of garden soil in pots.

The year I figured that out was the year everything suddenly started growing normally lol.

Curious what everyone here uses. Do you buy bagged mix, make your own, or just use whatever is cheapest and available?

And has anyone actually compared the results side-by-side?

[u/Supersucker614]

ProMix HP. You will have to fertilize but great potting mix out of the bag

[u/WTF0302 → u/Supersucker614]

I just looked up the prices for ProMix. 😳 💰 I’m going to keep making my own at about 1/10 the cost.

[u/Diabettie9 → u/WTF0302]

It’s compressed, so it goes farther than a typical bag of soil. It’s usually worth around two bags of normal soil, so the price evens out.