Hi, As a grower fro many, many years of more plants you can name I wanted to say something about potting mixes. Find out where you plant came from in nature and it's growth pattern. For "bulbs" that come from dry summers create a mix about 50% potting soil and 50% med-coarse perlite. It will drain VERY fast and you could water it every day in a 4 inch pot. In nature a lot of bulbs get winter rains. Add about1/4 teaspoon fertilizer per gal. I myself also add 1 ml(same as 1 cc) of a plant called superthrive (found in any garden center). It has some plant hormones that stimulate root development and bulb reproduction. Now I owned a comercial nursery which was my entire source of making a living. So plants that grow in cool weather want food but don't want to live in a swamp so use a fast draining mix. Plus the roots need air to grow. The loose mix allows air to get to the roots. Say you want to grow plants that like it wet, just cut back on the perlite. The organic material in the dirt can hold a lot of water. Mixes with a lot of dirt in it are sometimes called heavy mixes. You will find many bulbs are adaptible but they do not want to be wet all the time or they rot. If you put 1,000 growers in a room and asks what potting mix works for them you will get 1,000 different recipes!! With fast draining mixes it is easier for you to control the amount of water the plant gets. I used to know an old lady in Mexico that grew her bulbs in old coffee cans with 3/4 crushed gravel and sometimes 1/4 streambed dirt. She produced the most fantastic flowers you ever saw on that recipe. She did punch holes in the bottom of the cans. What I would do is ask around with members who produce fantastic plants and see what they do. We have a tremendous amount of hidden talent and you will find there is not just one way to grow a plant/bulb!! Russ H. PS when you plants multiply try to share them. Some can be very expensive and not everyone is rich. In a message dated 3/31/2013 11:45:53 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, gastil.buhl@gmail.com writes: Welcome Luis, First, I commend you for starting your planning in March for growing next Fall. I wish I had such foresight when I began. Having everything in pots can be an advantage. Many on this list grow primarily in pots. It looks like you have done some research already, as you knew to tell us where you live (coastal California), and you recognize the type of bulb grown (winter growing) affects choice of potting mix. (The book 'Grow Bulbs' by G. Duncan says winter growing bulbs have lower nutrient needs.) I am experimenting with several recipes for potting mix but it is too soon to know which works best. I got started by reading this page: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… As Kathleen mentioned, searching the archives can dig up a lot of information. The equivalent to typing "potting mix" in the search box is this google search: "potting mix" site:///http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org which finds 604 results! You see PBS members do write often on this important topic. Jane is an expert and I take notes whenever she writes. But given my limited skills I cannot grow a Lily in the same potting mix as a Lachenalia. (The Lily needs more nutrients and water whereas the Lachenalia would rot in a mix that takes half the summer to dry out.) It may be a matter of scale. My garden is small and I spend a lot of time with each plant. If I were a real "grower" on a large scale it would be too complicated to adjust soil, type of pot, feeding and watering to each species. The general advice I read is "you can easily add water but it is difficult to remove water." (I forgot the source.) That is one of the ideas of a rapid-draining, porous potting mix. Today it is raining, so everything gets watered, whether or not the leaves have begun to turn brown (a signal to cease irrigation). The plan is for the bulbs which need a dry dormancy to be in a soil that drains and dries. Thanks for the Lachenalia sand tip Dell. I'll try that, as soon as I get replacements for my lovely Lachenalia that rotted because I had not realized how a mix with too much coir takes months to dry out here. - Gastil Coastal California _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/