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WHY DO I MAKE MY OWN POTTING MIX?
Making my own mix enables me to customise the mix based on the following requirements:
The plant itself (what medium does the plant prefer?)
The environment the plant grows in (how quickly does the mix dry out?)
Willingness to water (how often can you water to prevent the mix from drying out?!)
The size of the pot & the size of the plant
Furthermore, creating my own mix, I can avoid using store bought potting mixes. They often come with pests & gnats in them. Once I switched to my own mix, I haven’t had any gnat issues!!!
My mix is ‘soil less’, however, I do not need to be concerned about a lack of nutrients as I provide my plants with a liquid nutrient weakly weekly.
What am I aiming for?
The aim depends on above criteria, so there isn’t one approach that fits all, but in general, I am aiming for a potting mix that is:
Well draining (you don’t want your mix to retain too much moisture as this might cause root rot)
Well aerated (roots, specifically roots of semi-epiphytes & epiphytes, like the aroids I grow, LOOOOVE oxygen)
Water retention (so the plant doesn’t dry out)
Nutrient retention (so the plant has all nutrients available it needs)
So basically, I want my mix to be nice & chunky to create little humid air pockets throughout the mix but at the same time I don’t want the mix to dry out too quickly or I risk the roots dying from dehydration.
Ingredients
Chunky Pine Bark (I use the Orchiata Brand & sourced from Growing Grounds)
Chunky Perlite (sourced from Growing Grounds)
Chunky Pumice (sourced from Sydney Hydroponic Store)
Coco Chips (sourced from Growing Grounds)
Free Fern Fibre (sourced from Growing Grounds or Grow Vertical)
Horticultural charcoal (sourced from Bunnings)
Propagation Sand (sourced from Bunnings)
Coco Peat (sourced from Bunnings)
Vermiculite (sourced from Bunnings)
Potting Mixes
I never measure, I just eye-ball it. My mixes keep changing based on what I have available & what plant I am potting up. There is no one solution that fits all. As long as it ends up being aerated & draining while retaining moisture & nutrients, it’s a winner!
Standard Aroid Mix:
Equal Parts of: Coco Peat/Bark/Perlite (alternatively, use Tree Fern Fibre instead of Coco Peat)
Chunky Aroid Mix (for Moss Poles)
Equal parts of: Bark / Coco Chips / Perlite / Pumice
A handful of: Free Tern Fibre / Charcoal / Sand / Coco Peat
Water retaining Mix (for plants like my Oxalis or Canna lillies)
Equal parts of: Tree Fern Fibre, Perlite & Coco Peat