Role of potting mixture in summer annuals

Annuals can be grown in the ground or as potted plants, but it is most advantageous to grow in pots for those who live in flats and have no space for growing plants in the ground. For them this is the cheapest method of gardening. Another advantage it provides is the easy mobility, i.e., a potted plant can be handled easily and can be moved to any part of the garden or even inside the house for the purpose of beautification. There are several occasions when growing plants in pots becomes essential. The usual constituents of a potting mixture are a good garden soil, preferably loam, which generally forms the greater part of the mixture, leaf-mould or peat-moss, coarse sand, old motar rubber, vermicompost, well rotted farm yard manure, charcoal and cinder ash. The proportion of the constituents will vary according to the type of the plant. For plants which need rich potting mixture, the amount of soil in the mixture is reduced and other constituents such as vermicompost, farm yard manure are increased.