I’m wanting to make my own chunky soil mix. What’s everyone suggestions? I keep having problems with gnats because my soil doesn’t drain well. I bought miracle grow indoor plant soil and perlite but I would like to make it chunkier. Thanks in advance!
I make a mix of orchid bark perlite and a high quality soil
0 Mi piace Any recommendations on soil?
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i use fox farm ocean forest and love it
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I recommend target brand cactus and succulent soil and perlite and orchid bark. Miracle grow is the mother substance of all fungus gnats lol.
3 Mi piace That’s great to know. Thank you!
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I was using this and loved it but I didn’t use it fast enough and it got gnats. I recently switched to sol soils which im loving too.
I would highly recommend returning the miracle grow and going for another brand for a soil base. I love Espoma but I’ve also heard great things about FoxFarm’s soil, particularly their Ocean Forest soil. I avoid anything miracle grow at all costs because of my experience with them as well as their reputation in the plant community for being a plant killer and gnat magnet. As for adding onto soil to make it chunkier, a solid selection of what to add could be perlite, orchid bark, and coco coir. I usually just mix my all purpose and cactus and succulent Espoma mixes together to make an all-purpose mix a bit chunkier, but orchid bark and perlite are very common additions to make a chunky mix. Hope this helps!
1 mi piace And to help with the gnat problem, perhaps pick up some sticky traps, mosquito bits/dunks, and try bottom watering your plants after repotting to prevent attracting the gnats to the moist top soil. If there’s any infestation of a pest and you plan to repot, I like to soak the roots in a mixture of 1 part hydrogen peroxide, 2 parts water for 30 minutes to kill any possible eggs or larvae laid by the gnats. You can gently pat the roots dry afterwards, and repot it into completely fresh soil, then bottom water from there after adding a sticky trap to the top. If gnats keep showing up and you’ve repotted all the plants with the gnats, start adding mosquito dunks/bits to the water when watering them. This could take a few weeks, but I’ve heard great things about them and they tend to work once they’re given enough time.
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