Many experts will tell you to use potting soil, plain or with a bit of fertilizer. Potting soil has many advantages. It drains well. It’s sterile and free of weed seeds and diseases. It’s lightweight, relatively speaking.

But potting soil bothers me precisely because it’s sterile. I mean, is dirt really supposed to be clean? To me, putting plants in sterile soil is a bit like putting animals in the zoo. Yes, they’re safe and well cared for, but they’re not in their natural habitat.

I do use potting soil in my outdoor container garden, but I mix it with real garden dirt and compost. Somehow it just seems more natural. Garden soil and compost are full of beneficial bacteria and other plant goodies.

Yes, I do get some weeds, but really, how hard is it to yank weeds from a potted plant? I haven’t noticed that the plants in real dirt suffer any more diseases than those in potting soil. If anything, they seem more robust.

For indoor plants, I do skip the garden soil because I don’t want insects in my house. I use potting soil, with a little bit of bagged compost.