Question
My husband and I just planted our first container garden and unwittingly used in-ground garden soil (Miracle-gro) which several gardening websites say was a big no-no. My husband mixed it with peat and pearlite; all of our containers are 5 gallons or larger. We have tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries and yellow squash. Should we re-plant them or will they be okay?
We are in Olympia, WA. We currently bring the plants in every evening since it is still dipping into the 40's at night.

Any tips or help is greatly appreciated!

Answer
I would be somewhat concerned if you are sowing seeds in cell packs or small pots since there always is a risk of transferring a disease which results in "damping off". This condition will prove fatal for seedlings that have just germinated if a soilborne disease was present in the garden bed. It normally occurs within five days of germination at which time the seedling wilts and dies with no advance symptoms.

In the future, always use fresh potting soil when growing in containers. I would not be as concerned if you are using transplants. When you stop and think about it, you would be planting in that same soil if you were planting in the garden, with a high probability of success. It's primarily a risk when using small amounts of garden soil in cell packs used for seed starting, and only because newly germinated seeds are very vulnerable. It's very rare in larger containers, especially since you have mixed in organic matter with peat and perlite.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck, and please write again if I can ever provide assistance.

Regards,

Mike