soil type

i am currently using a peat type. problem is my garden (outside) has enough vermiculite it looks like its snowed. can a generic soil(dirt) be used and what are the problems associated with it? thanks for any help

hi there
generic is a difficult term to use when describing soil,
its kinda like saying "ive got a generic car, how do i improve it?"
you could add leather seats, cd player, light-weight rims, performance exhaust, metallic paint, ecu upgrade, better tyres etc...

from my experience its all about texture, you dont want it too muddy, or to heavy, you want it to drain well, but not dry out too quick, and you want to have good air penetration.

to much vermiculite can be bad( i found this out the hard way), and make a muddy soil even muddier, hence less air-penetration. maybe you need more solid matter with air retaining properties? maybe the addition of a bit of sand and some perlite will help give the soil more structure, its hard to say without knowing whats wrong with the soil that your currently using...

theres lots of people on here with much more knowlege than i, but its hard to fix a problem if you dont know what the problem is....can you explain a bit more?

the only prob with the sunshine mix# 4 is when i crop and want to dump it my garden(where i discard my used sunshine) its seem obvious that im not dumping top soil. i really am looking for a way to hide my used material. i was going to buy a soil in a bag, like affrican violet soil. its not a obivious a my sunshine mix. there doesn't seem to b as much of the ver or perlite. was wondering if the potting soil would cause prob.

Hey needinsomehelp
How much soil are you talking about?If only 20 or 30 gallons I would spead it out in the yard ,the grass will love it.You can drop a gallon or three in the garbage bin on trash day.whos to say some house plants died.
Peace and Merry Chrismas

wholly 20 - 30 gallon? im paranoid about 3-10" pots every time.guessn im just too parranoid. thanks

ps while im here.look an c if you canfigr the little green thing to thr right.turned at the same time as the tree (sry about shinn off wall but she is nice).back to the litle green thing no crystal very thick green crap. did i crop it too much at the begin of the turn from 18 - 12. tried to make 1 big one. any way thanks again