Free Draining Soil Mix

1 part commercial potting soil.

Free draining soil mix.

Bark is added to. If the water drains from the hole in 10 minutes or less you have fast draining soil. You don t know what s coming in with it. Dig a hole once the soil and compost are completely combined that is 12 inches square and about 12 inches deep.

Dig a hole 30 centimetres deep and wide. The fifth and final way to improve soil drainage is to use additives in your soil. Use additives to improve soil drainage. This will create concrete.

A simple test to find out if your soil is well draining. Fill the hole with water then allow it to drain completely before filling it again. It holds three to four times its weight in water increases pore space and improves drainage. Check out this earlier post about coir.

A soilless mix gives you more control. Cacti and succulents thrive better in soil that drains easily and doesn t retain a lot of water. Disease spores bacteria plant eating insects weed. I like it because it loosens up the mix while adding a bit of water retention.

Don t use fine sand. Perlite is a lightweight sterile addition to bagged and homemade potting mixes. If your soil is well draining the time the water takes to drain. If the water takes an hour or more to drain you have poorly draining soil.

How to mix your own cactus and succulent soil. This is the most common and well known additive to improve soil drainage. Perlite helps aerate the soil hold water and keep soil from packing down. With a neutral ph perlite is easy to find at nurseries and garden centers.

Fill it with water. Coir is the coarse fiber from the outer husk of coconuts. Sphagnum peat moss is mixed into sandy soils to help hold moisture and into clay soils to loosen the soil and improve drainage. When planting perennial plants that like well drained soils in clay the best thing to do is to create a raised bed or berm mounded pile of soil.

Commercial nurseries often sell pre mixed bags of special soil but this is often at a premium. Sphagnum moss is also used as a liner for hanging baskets of plants. In contrast to peat coir rewets easily and doesn t compress as readily. Soilless potting mix starting seeds in soil.

One popular brand of perlite is espoma perlite. The essential element in well drained soil is oxygen.