Simple Custom Soil Mix Recipes

Organic soil is the foundation of any healthy agricultural or resilient gardening environment. The market for an organic custom soil mix that is both additive and chemical free has become more popular in the past several years, yet finding a top commercial soil brand that is both affordable, as well as effective and sustainable can be a challenge.

Loam soil, also used for topsoil application, is composed with a proportional blend of clay, sand, and silt ingredients. Organic soil mixes can be tailored to meet the environmental sustainability requirements of a garden setting, introducing added nutrients or drainage support in the process.

Read on for simple custom organic soil mix recipes and their main ingredients, to catch a glimpse into the unique drainage, moisture, nutrient, and PH balance factors as well as resiliency recommendations for gardening reuse.

Simple Custom Soil Mix Recipes

1. Acidic Soil Mix

This peat moss mix can be blended with garden limestone to create the perfect conditions for plants requiring a naturally acidic soil base. Proportional ingredients:

4 x Peat moss; 2 x Compost; 1 x Perlite; ¼ – ½ x Vermiculite.

2. Basic Outdoor Soil Mix

A nutrient-rich outdoor soil with better than average water retention capacity, making it the right choice for summer planting. Proportional ingredients:

2 x Peat moss or Coco coir (pre-moistened); 2 x compost; 1 x Perlite; ¼ – ½ x Vermiculite; 1 Tbs. limestone per gallon of peat moss.

3. Cactus & Succulent Soil Mix

The drainage structure required by both cactus plants and succulent plants, this unique soil blend recipe simulates desert-like conditions for indoor and outdoor gardens. Pumice can be substituted for perlite. Proportional ingredients:

3 x Potting soil; 2 – 3 x Sand; 1 x Perlite.

4. Houseplant Soil Mix

The perfect odorless soil mix solution for houseplant sustainability, coco coir can be substituted for peat moss, and pumice for perlite. Proportional ingredients:

2 x Peat moss or Coco coir (moistened); 1 x Perlite; ¼ – ½ x Vermiculite; 1 Tbs. limestone per gallon of peat moss.

5. Herb & Vegetable Soil Mix

A rich soil blend for outdoor herb and vegetable garden planting. Coco coir can be substituted for peat moss, and pumice for perlite. Proportional ingredients:

2 x Peat moss; 3 x Compost; 1 x Perlite; 1 x Sand; 1 x Vermiculite; ¼ x Gypsum; 1 Tbs. limestone per gallon of peat moss.

6. Soilless Mix

Outdoor shallow hanging plants and window boxes require a special lightweight, soilless blend for long-lasting growth. Coco coir can be substituted for peat moss. Proportional ingredients:

2 x Peat moss; 2 x Vermiculite; ¼ x Limestone; ¼ x Super phosphate; ½ x Blood meal.

Organic Soil Ingredients

Commercial soil mixes can contain up to 48 ingredients, but organic soil mixes tend to be more limited in scope and composition. When creating a custom organic soil mix, the key is to strive for optimal plant growth and limited maintenance.

Whether hanging decorative plants, seed starting, or planting an entire mini-farm landscape, you should first establish the proper soil foundation. Blend ingredients to meet the unique demands of your gardening or landscaping activity.

As your garden grows, add fresh soil as needed. The same basic organic ingredients commonly found in commercial soil mix products are the recommended ingredients for creation of a custom soil blend. Here are ingredients for optimal plant growth conditions based on the eco-systemic characteristics of the planting environment.

Drainage Inducing Ingredients

Perlite

To induce drainage and prevent a soil bed from compaction, white perlite is an organic composite that can be added to a mix to reduce the density, making it lighter to the touch and easier to mulch when gardening. If perlite is unavailable in your plant and garden marketplace, substitute with pumice.

Sand

Coarse sand is used in soil mixes for support of plants requiring extra drainage. Fine sand is not recommended for most soil mixes due to excess water retention.

Moistening Ingredients

Vermiculite

The addition of vermiculite to a soil mix boosts moisture retention and reduces compaction. This ingredient is suggested for tropical plants and for those who wish to take an occasional hiatus from watering.

Nutrient Packed Ingredients

Blood Meal

A natural source of nitrogen required for the foliage growth of dark green leafy vegetables, blood meal also enhances the growth of flower annuals and perennials.

Compost

The popularity of organic decomposition of food and other natural substances makes compost a mainstay ingredient for any homemade custom soil composition. Use compost liberally. Special compost blends for mushroom compost may have specific results depending on the plant life it is intended to support.

Traditional compost mixes such as decomposed manure and worm castings add substantial nutrients to the growth of an outdoor garden. Heat treatment of compost is recommended before use if obtained from an external source.

Seaweed

Marine sourced seaweed is a nutrient that adds calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to a garden. Seaweed is sold dried in the stores and should be moistened before adding it to a compost prepared for use in soil.

Gypsum

Required for the growth of many flowering plants, fruits and some vegetables, the calcium mineral rich composition of gypsum makes soil porous and malleable even in soil contexts that are hard and weighty.

PH Balancing Ingredients

Coco Coir

A coconut bi-product, coco coir is an alternate, sustainable soil mix ingredient that is less acidic than peat moss. Preparation of coco coir before it is added to a soil mix requires moistening. Measure the proportion to be used after it is moistened, as coco coir expands on contact with water.

Peat Moss

The foundation of many a potted garden, peat moss is an acidic ingredient you can add to soil that improves plant aeration and water retention. Peat comes packed dry but should be moistened before it is introduced to a soil mix. To neutralize the pH acid effect of peat moss in a garden, add 1 tablespoon of gardening lime per gallon of peat.

Organic Soil Is Our Blend

A healthy garden begins with a fresh soil mix. For more information about organic soil mix, storage and reuse, contact Dirt Connections.