---
title: "I mix my plant soil with regular potting soil and perlite but i…"
description: "I mix my plant soil with regular potting soil and perlite but i noticed the top of the soil gets very ugly fast with the perlite. Dry and just looks unhealthy…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/a4wZKFZrdchwyiUZLBQHcs"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "Jj"
published: "2026-04-11T18:09:20.582767Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v2/cloudinary/global_data/communities/everythingHousePlants.jpg"
---

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# I mix my plant soil with regular potting soil and perlite but i…

_Posted by Jj on 2026-04-11_

I mix my plant soil with regular potting soil and perlite but i noticed the top of the soil gets very ugly fast with the perlite. Dry and just looks unhealthy lol. Should i start to just bottom water my plants going forward to avoid this or is it normal? Its almost like when i plant them there isnt too much perlite on the top soil but when time goes on its like all the perlite goes to the top haha

## 2 comments

### Donna S commented on 2026-04-11

Funny, I was just thinking about posting about this too: I hate that look. I tried top dressing a couple plants with sand, but that didn’t work well. Looking forward to hearing what others do for ‘aesthetics’. I repotted a few plants yesterday and put a little plain ‘unmixed’ soil on top. Some use dry moss I think but that seems like it would get messy after a while.

### SuccySuccy commented on 2026-04-11

I hate when the perlite turns that yellowish brown color. Just stir up the soil a bit, it’s fine.

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