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I looked it up later on, and apparently that potting soil they sell is very, very, very flammable. 

Zig said
Did your research say what element of the soil makes it flammable? Imagine living is the American Southwest where at times it gets so hot that you can literally fry an egg on the pavement (I’ve seen it done). Seems outdoor plants in that particular potting soil would be at risk to spontaneously combustion. 

I did a little more since then.  I know that citing personal blogs is kind of a no-no when talking about scientific topics, but this entry in a gardening blog gives a pretty good idea.  From the sound of it, it won’t catch fire on it’s own, but if exposed to fire, it will burn like crazy.

Apparently, causing fires in this way is pretty darn common, but it only happens if the soil is dry.  Here’s an excerpt from an article published 6/23/10 in the Peninsula Clarion, an Alaska-based newspaper.

They thought they were disposing of their cigarettes correctly. But fire officials say they were about five minutes away from learning their lesson in an even crueler manner.

Late Monday afternoon, Gisela Ollieu’s grandson ditched his still-lit cigarette butt into a flowerpot on the porch at Ollieu’s double-wide trailer. Then he left the Humecky Circle home, which is about a half-mile down Funny River Road.

Ollieu, 68, was at her son’s home in Soldotna, celebrating Father’s Day a day late, when she got a phone call about the blaze.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t think of why it would be on fire because I always make sure I turn everything off,” Ollieu said.

Central Emergency Services heard news of the fire at about 7:15 on Monday evening when a man driving by the trailer on his motorcycle saw the smoke and called it in.

“If it had gone undiscovered for another five minutes, we would have had a raging fire,” Gary Hale, CES’s fire marshal, said. “It would have burned everything.”

Instead, firefighters were able to limit the damage to the wooden deck and to the 50-foot by 20-foot trailer’s exterior and underside. Hale estimated the total destruction to be about $3,000. Ollieu was back living in the trailer on Tuesday.

Hale said it’s important to remember how the fire started. The flowerpot that Ollieu’s grandson put his cigarette in was filled with dry potting soil, containing vermiculite — a flammable material. The cigarette then lit the pot on fire, which, in turn, ignited the deck and could have resulted in a total loss of the home, according to Hale.

Hale said people should know that potting soil is different than dirt, and cigarettes should not be put out in potting soil. He said the mistake leads to at least one fire per year.

“The message is to properly dispose of cigarette butts into metal cans or some type of container that is not combustible,” Hale said.

Ollieu said she learned her lesson.

“I did not realize that potting soil catches fire,” she said.

And here’s the relevant parts from an article from just a couple days ago in The Jamestown Sun from Jamestown, North Dakota.

The Jamestown Fire Department is urging residents to extinguish and discard smoking materials properly to avoid starting costly and dangerous fires — indoors and outside.

“The key thing is to make sure you put it out properly and discard it properly — that is the key,” said JFD Chief Jim Reuther.

[…]

The campaign recommends extinguishing the smoking materials, all the way, every time. This includes in ashtrays and smoking stations — making sure the material is cool to the touch before discarding.

Smoking in designated areas with approved noncombustible receptacles or metal cans filled with sand or water helps reduce the risk of fire, Reuther said. Filling a plastic container with sand is still dangerous, he said, and so are planters with dirt containing potting soil.

“Some people use potting soil to extinguish cigarettes and it has wood and other things that become flammable when dry,” Reuther said. “We lost a home to that type of fire in the northeast.”

Yep, I’m apparently far from the first time this has happened.

What’s going on in my life right now? I’m procrastinating on packing for tomorrow. 

I’m currently planning a mammoth series of playlists from 1954 through 1984 combining everything ever released by Elvis, The Beatles and the solo Beatles up to “Milk And Honey .” It should be about 88 hours long, in roughly chronological order. I’m breaking it up into 8 hour playlists. 

This way I won’t have to decide anymore whether to listen to Elvis or The Beatles.

Expert Textpert said
I’m currently planning a mammoth series of playlists from 1954 through 1984 combining everything ever released by Elvis, The Beatles and the solo Beatles up to “Milk And Honey .” It should be about 88 hours long, in roughly chronological order. I’m breaking it up into 8 hour playlists. 

This way I won’t have to decide anymore whether to listen to Elvis or The Beatles.

I finished the project. There are 9 playlists, in honor of John. I couldn’t get them in 8 hour segments. I wanted to keep the years together and some years have more material than others. The years with the most material are 1969 and 1970.