---
title: "Hi everyone! I made my own tropical mix but the only potting soil…"
description: "Hi everyone! I made my own tropical mix but the only potting soil that was available had fertilizer in it. My “recipe” is two parts potting soil, two parts…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/64a1c6c8ea3c29fa0555faeb"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "Melanie"
published: "2023-07-02T18:49:44.023Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v2/cloudinary/global_data/communities/everythingHousePlants.jpg"
---

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# Hi everyone! I made my own tropical mix but the only potting soil…

_Posted by Melanie on 2023-07-02_

Hi everyone! I made my own tropical mix but the only potting soil that was available had fertilizer in it. My “recipe” is two parts potting soil, two parts orchid bark, 1 part perlite, and a bit of horticultural charcoal and mosquito bits.

Should I fertilize since it’s not straight potting soil? I don’t want to over fertilize it either. I use General Hydroponics Flora Series liquid fertilizers for my plants that are in leca.

## 4 comments

### Anya commented on 2023-07-02

You could lightly fertilize meaning that say if you normally add 1 tsp per gallon of water you would now do 1/2 or 1/4 tsp.

### Ana commented on 2023-07-02

Second Anya. The fertilizer on the potting soil is slow release so it is okay to still fertilize with a liquid fertilizer as long as it is maybe a more diluted dose.

### Melanie commented on 2023-07-02

Awesome tysm!!

### Mullein commented on 2023-07-03

I use a hydroponics vegetative fert (Botanicare) and find it’s gentle enough that it won’t cause burns in excess. If it’s a plant-bast formula, you should be good to go. If it’s synthetic it might need to be extra diluted

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