Standing in the garden center, paying $4 for a bag of cheap potting soil instead of $10 or $15 can feel like an obvious money-saving decision. Then your containers stay soggy, seedlings struggle, roots barely develop, and suddenly you’re buying replacement plants, fertilizer, perlite, or another bag of growing mix anyway. Price doesn’t automatically determine quality, and an inexpensive product can certainly work, but what is inside the bag matters much more than the picture of enormous tomatoes printed on the front. Iowa State University notes that poor-quality potting mixes are often heavy and slow-draining, while better mixes provide both drainage and moisture retention without readily compacting. Before filling 10 containers with the cheapest bag on the pallet, check these features first.
