Anyone that mixes their own soil-where do you get your stuff and what do you put in it? Thanks!
Anyone that mixes their own soil-where do you get your stuff and what do you put in it? Thanks!
Yeah about that my soil is clay!😬
0 J'aimeSame, and the standard bagged soil isn't doing it for my high maintenance plants
0 J'aimeYou can get soil and soil components at your local garden center, Lowe’s Home Depot etc will have the basics. It depends on the type of plant you want to pot. I get my soil mix recipes and ratios online from people who specialize in the type of plant I want to repot. For outdoor plants we like promix.
1 j'aimeTo make my life easier I trial and errored a lot to find a mix that would work for all my tropicals and one that worked for all my succulents. This way I can mix large batches of each instead of having to constantly be mixing small batches. My mixes: Tropicals - 50% standard potting mix (I use Nurseryland brand, but this might only be a local option) / the other 50% equal parts Perlite, small orchid bark, small lava rock Succulents- 45-50% cactus soil / 35-40% perlite/ 10-15% small lava rock Something to keep in mind, your own environment will factor in greatly, humidity/air flow/temp, on what mixtures will work best for your plants in your growing environment.
2 J'aimeThanks- I've been wanting to help out my tropicals with better soil
0 J'aimeI use a similar mix and my tropical do great in it. Just a word of caution if you’re adding perlite, wear a mask or at least cover your mouth and nose with a cloth. A lung specialist let me know breathing in that fine dust can cause some serious lung issues.
1 j'aimeAwesome! I appreciate the tip about polite too 😊
1 j'aimeI'm not very precise but usually a combo of potting soil, perlite, horticultural charcoal, orchid bark and worm castings. Ratios depend on the plant, size of roots, size if the pot etc. I get this stuff from the garden/farm shop, though I find that I can only find orchid bark in tiny expensive little bags... Until I went to the feed store and discovered I could order in a 50lb bag (it's what they use to fill the expensive little bags). For my outside garden... I'm just continually mixing in random loads of horse manure 😂 (I own a horse, it's about time he starts earning his keep!!!)
0 J'aimeI have great success using this mixture; I use equal parts of soil, perlite and orchid park. My go to soil is Fox Farms Ocean Blend. I even toss in some leca if it around. This creats a mix that isnt too dense, retains moisture witbout it keeping it saturated .
0 J'aimeI keep mine an in a Tupperware type container. I err on the side of chunky soil, but adjust accordingly to each plant. If you want to get very specific, you can ask ChatGPT for the exact percentages of each type of medium for the specific plant.
0 J'aime