Cultivate soil in a container?

[karmachelle]

Hi All,

So I'm wondering if it's a good idea to cultivate the soil around my plants in containers? Is it necessary? I think I'm just nervous about being clumsy and damaging the roots of my plants...

Thanks for any advice!

Karmachelle

[Kisal]

I don't cultivate my container plants. I think the only real reason to cultivate around any plant is to keep down the weeds, and I don't have much in the way of weeds that sprout in my containers. The few weeds that do sprout, I just pull by hand. The soil I use in containers is a pretty loose mix, to encourage good drainage, so the weeds come out easily, roots and all.

Aside from the slow-release fertilizer I add when preparing the container, the fertilizer I use is mixed with water, so that doesn't require that I disturb the soil.

[karmachelle]

Super! That's kind of what I was hoping to hear!

Thank you!