Jan. 4, 2016 - Indoor gardeners may be tempted to dig up soil in their yard for use with their potted plants. But the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) January 1 Soils Matter blog post explains that potting soil for indoor plants is best not taken from your back yard.

Bill Carlile, a soil scientist with Bord na Mona, Ireland, says, “The soil in your backyard is most likely a dynamic mixture of sand, silt and clay – depending on where you live.”

“Most potting soils sold at garden stores aren’t ‘soils’ at all, but a mix of ingredients. Together, these ingredients can smooth the road to good plant growth. Potting soils are the better choice for indoor plants and starting seedlings for transplant. A good potting soil allows good, constant plant growth.”

“Backyard soils don’t have the right structure or nutrients for indoor plants – and you have the added risk of bringing in undesired weed seeds, diseases, and pests.”

To read the entire blog post, visit http://soilsmatter.wordpress.com.

Follow SSSA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SSSA.soils, Twitter at SSSA_Soils. SSSA has soils information on www.soils.org/discover-soils, for teachers at www.soils4teachers.org, and for students through 12^th grade, www.soils4kids.org.