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Do I Have To Worry About Your Soils While Pregnant?

“I am pregnant and was watering my plants when I got Black Gold potting soil on my hands. I am concerned about toxoplasmosis and have questions. Is your soil made in areas where cats are present?” Question from Katie

Answer: Feline waste is not an ingredient present in our mixes! As you probably know, toxoplasmosis may be present in fresh or old cat feces. Any garden threat of this parasite would come from cats defecating directly into your garden soils. (Click here to read the CDCs guidelines for protecting yourself against toxoplasmosis.)

With that said, be cautious when gardening while pregnant, and always wear waterproof garden gloves followed by washing your hands well after gardening. All natural, in-ground soils always contain Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that can cause the disease listeriosis, which pregnant women are susceptible to. So, dig carefully, and clean up well. (Click here to read the CDCs guidelines for protecting yourself from listeriosis.)

We also recommend washing any garden herbs, fruits, or vegetables very well before consuming them.

Garden safely,

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

What’s the Best Soil for Fruit Containers?

“Hello. What is the best soil that you have available to grow citrus trees and blackberries in containers? I’m looking for the soil ph to be around 6.0.” Question from Jerrold of Pearland, Texas

Answer: For container gardening, we recommend either Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Mix or Black Gold Waterhold Cocoblend Potting Mix. Both are fertile, water holding, and have a pH around 6.0. They are also OMRI Listed for organic gardening, which makes them good choices for edible growing. Be sure to stick with dwarf berry and citrus varieties for container growing. We also recommend you click here to read more about growing citrus in pots and view the video below to get more information about growing blackberries.

Happy gardening!

Jessie Keith

Mulching Gardens With Black Gold Amendments

When the drought is long, soils are poor, and money is short, one way to revitalize struggling garden plants is to protect their roots with mulch. Good mulches help to retain moisture, cool the root zone, and discourage weeds. The conventional wisdom is to mulch with wood chips or ground up bark, but both are very slow to decompose and can bind needed soil nutrients. The better option is to protect small beds and containers with organic-rich amendments that give back.

Garden Mulches for Soil Enrichment

Rich compost, peat moss, coir, or Black Gold Earthworm Castings are all amendments that double as mulches–alone or as home-mixed blends–in small ornamental gardens or vegetable gardens.  All offer needed organic matter, which helps soils better retain water and maintain porosity. They also offer structural and water-holding benefits.  For example, Black Gold Garden Compost Blend contains peat moss for water retention and compost give poor soils better aeration for easier establishment and performance.

Amendment mulching is often most effective in shaded areas because it helps to simulate conditions on the forest floor.  If you take a cross section of this “duff” layer, you’ll see that it’s mostly leaves or needles with a fine, dark layer that sits right on top of the earth.  It’s rich in decomposing organic matter, which is why shade plants are often surface rooted.

Landscape Mulches for Trees and Shrubs

This is also true of acid-loving plants, such as azaleas or camellias, which  develop a wide, shallow root system where the majority of the soil nutrition lies. In fact, without a yearly surface application of organic matter, these plants can suffer. All too often you see the surface roots of azaleas exposed after years without the addition of a mulch layer.  The organic matter is essential to keep their roots moist and cool, especially when drought descends. We recommend mixing a 1:1 of Black Gold Garden Compost Blend and Black Gold Peat Moss for acid lovers. Both products offer needed organic matter and peat moss is a little more acid, which benefits these plants.

Assess your favorite plants, planters, individual trees and shrubs to determine if they will benefit from this special treatment.   Apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of amendment around the base of the plant.  Always keep it few inches clear of the trunk to prevent bark-to- mulch contact, which can induce stress and rot.  Extend the mulch layer out to the edge of the drip line.

Don’t work the amendment in. Just smooth and pat it with your palm to flatten it out for better soil contact.   Moisten often with just a light spray or collected household water to keep these amazing shrubs and trees happy on minimal rainfall.  For areas with brief drought, mulch provides great short-term protection from an abnormally dry or hot summer.

As landscapes everywhere are being altered to be more efficient, don’t forget that amendment mulch can mean so much more to your plants.  If you already have bark mulch in place, the next best thing is to sprinkle amendments over the bark, so they can filter down and provide support the next deep water day or after a welcome summer cloudburst.

Keys to Developing Quality Garden Soil

Disney Epcot
Whether you’re growing a family food garden or cultivating your favorite roses, the key to developing quality garden soil is always organic matter. This material is vital to plant life whether you are growing all organic, partially so, or using standard horticultural practices. Consider this the panacea to many problems that routinely plague home gardens during the growing season.

1. Organic matter is vital to improving soil structure. When mixed into clay soils it opens up the tiny particles of heavy clay soils to help them drain, and it helps to retain such drainage over time. This is also the case for adding organic matter to porous soils, which helps retain moisture like a million tiny sponges. This first step is accomplished with Black Gold Garden Soil for structural changes to soil for fantastic organic food and outstanding flowers.

2. Organic matter feeds microbes. When organic matter is partially decomposed and fine textured as is the case with fine textured Black Gold Garden Compost Blend, think of it as fuel for the huge populations of microorganisms that live in your soil. This invisible life force in topsoil includes fungi, bacteria and algae. They work symbiotically with your plants to help them grow faster and fruit more abundantly. Microbes in the soil are much like intestinal flora in the human body. Both are directly related to a healthy functioning immune system. Organic matter is Nature’s perfect pro-biotic.

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3. Organic matter adds fertility. All soils contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but there’s not enough to feed a garden year after year. Make it a practice to fortify the soil each year with a healthy dose of Black Gold Soil Conditioner, which offers organic matter as well as slow release fertilizer in a single all-organic package. It contains plenty of compost for organic matter, but what boosts this amendment is a variety of natural nutrient sources such as kelp and guano. Kelp is vital to adding lesser known micro-nutrients thereby resolving any lack of trace elements. Where Soil Conditioner may not be available, combine Black Gold Garden Compost Blend with healthy additions of a starter and transplant fertilizer for similar results.

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Remember: organic matter isn’t forever. Whether you add Black Gold Natural & Organic Soil Builder or Black Gold Garden Compost Blend to your garden, consider this your soil’s annual meal. Be generous to ensure the entire garden receives a good sized portion. During the growing season, this organic matter is broken down and used by both microbes and plants. Unless you replace it on a regular basis, your garden will not produce the same results the following year. Without regular applications, soil may revert to heavy clay, the microbe population will drop off and fertility declines.

Plan on two large feedings a year with smaller applications as needed in between. Apply the largest quantity in spring before planting time. Till it in before hand so microbes have time to increase their numbers prior to arrival of plants and seed. Use it again as a summer mulch around individual plants to retain moisture and keep roots cool. Then till in a final dose at the end of the year, which feeds microbes all winter.

Stick with Black Gold quality organic matter and you’ll find the keys to perfect garden soil in the palm of your hand. Whether it’s structure, fertility or to grow microbe populations, the result is always beneficial, your yields always abundant.

Harvesting and Planting Moss

Holland - Maureen Gilmer
Cool, damp winter temperatures bring mosses out in all their glory. These amazing spore-bearing plants often grows on rocks, in shaded tree dells, the north side of a house, and anywhere else where it’s wet enough. This moss is perfect for using in glass terrarium containers and as a surface covering for bonsai specimens.

Mosses look great at the base of bonsai or shade plants, and harvesting and planting moss is easy. To harvest free, wild mosses from your yard, gently lift patches of moss up with your fingers so that it comes up in large chunks. Bring the pieces indoors and keep them damp until you’re ready to use them. Then separate pieces to transplant onto exposed soil beneath any decorative container plant. The result always looks great!

 

Learn more about Sun Gro® Horticulture’s Preservation and Reclamation Policy. 

Huntington - Maureen Gilmer

Teaming With Microbes

Teaming with Microbes
With organic gardening, it’s all about soil microbes. What we do to enrich our soils with organic matter and humus helps to feed this population of invisible organisms. Their presence enhances fertility to help plants grow healthier with a stronger root and immune system. To truly understand how important this microbe-plant relationship is to your food garden, read Jeff Lowenfels’ outstanding book: Teaming with Microbes (Timber Press). It is the modern gardener’s guide to the soil food web, what it is, how to protect it and why it’s essential to use organic fertilizers, amendments and potting soils that support this vital population.

Better Results All Season Long with Black Gold®

Black Gold All Purpose with Multicote Potting SoilWith the advent of Black Gold® All Purpose, you are now able to enjoy the benefits of a premium quality potting soil with a fertilizer that will feed your plants for up to six months. Sun Gro sells this same fertilizer product to professional growers. By incorporating Multicote® into your potting soil, your plants will have a consistent supply of nutrients throughout the entire season.

Multicote®, a controlled release fertilizer, has been coated with a polymer that slowly breaks down to release the nutrients over time. Unlike other controlled release fertilizers in the marketplace, Multicote® will not release excessive nutrients in higher temperatures, thus ensuring your plant will thrive no matter what the weather. This baseline of fertilizer allows your plants to grow all season long, not just when you remember to fertilize. Additional fertilizations with a liquid fertilizer, starting a couple weeks after planting, will ensure your plants get all the nutrients they need, particularly if your plants are heavy feeders.

Ideal for all types of plants, Black Gold® All Purpose with Multicote® is a great choice for house plants, patio containers and hanging baskets. Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss with earthworm castings, forest humus, compost and pumice combine to provide your plants with both moisture retention and good drainage. Since this potting soil has a higher amount of peat moss, it is ideal for gardeners looking to reduce their fertilizer and water usage.

Think of all the benefits – you start with a premium potting soil; add a controlled release fertilizer that will lessen the frequency of fertilizing; and you get improved plant performance by using Black Gold® All Purpose Potting Soil with Multicote®.

Enrich Your Garden Soil with Black Gold

Black Gold Natural and Organic Fertilizers - SliderWhen you garden, you are gardening with a desired end result in mind, whether it is a bountiful vegetable garden, a bloom-laden bed of roses, a floriferous flowering bed of spring or summer bulbs or a thick rich lawn. All of these results might not be possible unless you invest into your garden with quality garden soil amendments and fertilizers.

Garden soil amendments are designed to improve the physical properties of your soil. Quality amendments increase water and nutrient holding capabilities and improve aeration and water infiltration of the native soil. The organic matter in an amendment acts similar to a magnet, attracting water and nutrients during times of plenty and releasing them during drier and less nutrient-rich times. Organic matter also loosens and breaks up mineral soil. This increases the air space for plant roots to flourish and allows improved water drainage.

Continue reading “Enrich Your Garden Soil with Black Gold”

Perlite and Pumice in Potting Soil

BG Perlite frontHave you ever wondered what those little white things in your potting soil are? In most instances they are perlite and/or pumice. Perlite is a mined siliceous rock that is heated and expanded, or “popped” like popcorn, into a white lightweight material, while pumice is a soft, insert-mined stone that often comes from Oregon. What makes Black Gold® Perlite and Black Gold® Pumice particularly desirable is that both are screened for uniformity, with the finer particles removed.

Both perlite and pumice are porous aggregates, meaning they are added to a potting soil to improve aeration and drainage. The addition of perlite and pumice in a potting soil will also increase the moisture and nutrient retention of the potting soil. Just like peat moss, they act like reservoirs in retaining water and nutrients and release them when they are needed by the plant.

Due to its weight, pumice provides bulk density to a potting soil. This trait is valuable when you are growing outdoor containers and you don’t want them to blow over in the wind. Pumice is often the aggregate choice for specialty potting soils (cactus, bonsai) because it provides great aeration and helps anchor roots.

In addition to being a potting soil mix component, perlite is an excellent neutral medium for starting seeds and rooting cuttings. It can also be used to store bulbs and as an essential hypertufa planter ingredient.

The Best Seedling Mix for Germination and Cuttings

BG Seeding Mix frontBlack Gold® Seedling Mix is the best seedling mix for germinating seeds and propagating cuttings. The mix is designed to promote better root development in young plants.

We start with a careful blend of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (which has been double-screened to remove larger particles and sticks); fine perlite and vermiculite to give seedlings and cuttings the aeration and moisture retention they need to develop a good root system. A wetting agent ensures rapid water penetration, and the fine texture encourages high germination and rooting. Transplanting your seedlings and cuttings will be a breeze when plants develop strong root systems as they are grown in Black Gold® Seedling Mix.

When it comes to germinating seeds, it’s simple – all you need is water, light and Black Gold® Seedling Mix. Making sure the growing media stays moist and seeds or cuttings have plenty of water in the early stages of germination or rooting is critical. Our seedling mix is designed with both peat moss and vermiculite, critical ingredients when you want to retain just the right amounts of moisture in your soil. Whether you are starting your seeds in a pot or a tray, they should be kept at temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees and placed in bright but not direct light – a southern exposure is ideal. Some seeds need darkness to germinate, so be sure to check your seed packet for details.

Black Gold® Seedling Mix is made with the same ingredients we use to make our seedling/propagation mixes for commercial greenhouse growers. Seeds typically need to be covered with Black Gold® Seedling Mix at a depth three times the diameter of the seed you are germinating. Larger seeds and seeds planted during warmer times of the year typically need to be planted deeper. Germinating your own seeds or rooting your own cuttings is a rewarding experience and one of the great delights of gardening. So when you are faced with the question, “Why buy a premium seedling mix potting soil?” the answer is clear. When you use Black Gold® Seedling Mix your seedlings and cuttings will have a great place to grow up.