I have a confession to make.
You all know how I have a green thumb, right? I written about my adventures in gardening many times. have several fiddle leaf fiddles around the house that have ballooned in size (no exaggeration). I’ve prepared new flower beds, planted hedges (update to come) and created our landscape plans from scratch.
However, there’s one area where I seem to have a black thumb: outdoor container plants.
I don’t know what it is, but my outdoor container plants always struggle. Container plants have slightly different watering needs than in-ground plants, and outdoor containers need more water than indoor containers. I water all my plants, but my timing must be slightly off for outdoor containers. (Let’s file this under things to set up weekly reminders for). It might be our hot Florida weather that works against me, drying out the soil in record time, because my indoor plants are thriving. However, I am determined to have outdoor container plants on our lanai to lend a tropical feeling to the space.
Luckily I just heard about a new product by Miracle-Gro called Expand ‘n Gro Concentrated Planting Mix. It’s a unique planting soil mix that you can only order online at my favorite online store, Amazon. Most soils can’t be ordered online due to their shipping weight. Expand ‘n Gro is light enough to be delivered to your front door, making your trip to the garden center easy and painless! You can use it in all types of settings: potting, in-ground, raised beds, growing edibles, growing flowers, etc.
After water is added, Expand ‘n Gro expands 3x so you get a lot of bang for your buck (leaving room in your budget for pretty planters and MORE plants!). Stir for 10 minutes and you’re all ready for planting. In addition to my outdoor planters, I plan on using this concentrated mix in areas where the harsh Florida sun hits my landscape shrubs the hardest. There are some spots that no matter how much water our sprinklers emit, they just can’t seem to stay hydrated long enough.
Expand ‘n Gro creates 90% more air space than other soils, making the plant roots very happy! It also holds up to 50% more water so your plants stay hydrated (YAS!) and it feeds them for up to six months, producing up to 3x bigger plants. Sounds like the solution to my outdoor container plant issues!
You can learn more about how to use Expand ‘n Gro in the infographic below.
I can’t wait to see the difference in my outdoor container plants this year. Maybe this will be the year where plants last longer than one season! And, the fact that I can order it on Amazon and not have to clean out my car’s trunk makes me even happier!
Stay tuned for another post later this month for how I use this soil. I can’t wait!
