I am further investigating different types of SOIL MEDIUMS, and I’m noticing that peat does not seem to be a desirable additive; is that correct? I’m discovering that Fox Farms and Sol Soils seem to be popular mediums. Should I be looking for soils that have no peat in them? What soils do you highly recommend for your tropical plants? TIA!
It depends on what you are using it for! For my tropical plants, I like to use either Molly’s aroid mix on Amazon if I’m being lazy, or make my own using a mixture of coco coir, coco chips, worm castings, horticulture charcoal, perlite, and I feel like I’m missing something! Sydney plant guy has a lot of awesome videos on his aroid mix and that’s essentially what I use. I highly recommend it.
3 J'aime I have made my own soil mixes in the past, but I don’t feel 100% comfortable they are better than something I could purchase. Just to reiterate, would you use Molly’s Aroid Mix on ALL of your tropical plants? i.e. caltheas, ferns, pothos…etc. TIA!
0 J'aime PS. And thanks for your post… I really appreciated it!
1 j'aime It really depends on how good you are at watering! With a mix like this, you will need to water constantly for some plants. Ferns and calatheas don’t really like to dry out. If you keep the soil watered enough to make up for it it would be fine, but I’d recommend a mix with more coir or spagnuhm (spelt that way wrong🤣) moss
1 j'aime Of course and if you make it yourself , you can adjust it based on the plant! I don’t know everything about every plant so I do a quick google or use Planta recommendations and mix the parts together in what equals the best soil for your plant! Sydney plant guy really is my plant bible
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another thing about peat is that its not very good for the environment - a google search could give you more in depth info, but i think its the marshes or bogs its found in contains a lot of carbon dioxide from all the decomposing happening. harvesting the peat releases this CO2 into the environment, and i think on large scales, if its being mass produced, than its releasing more CO2 into the air than it would naturally. alternatives to peat that retain moisture would be coir and sphagnum like Plantgirly said, as well as straight soil or compost, coco coir, and coco chips hold moisture while providing aeration!
1 j'aime I was just beginning to notice environmental problems using peat, but I’m still not quite up on it yet. It’s definitely worth further investigation, so TXS for that info! I’ll have to Google it myself, and learn more!
1 j'aime good luck!!
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The fox farms do use peat. But it's a small portion of the mix. Vs like the miracle gro or a few others that are mainly peat.
You can just go full garden soil and just ammend it yourself. Sol Soils i belive are or mostly are peat free. I just got some more of their succulent gritty mix. I like their blends, but it's to pricey for my tropicals collection. Which is why I mix my own
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