Free Draining Soil Mix

Commercial nurseries often sell pre mixed bags of special soil but this is often at a premium.

Free draining soil mix. Bark is added to. 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. Sphagnum peat moss is mixed into sandy soils to help hold moisture and into clay soils to loosen the soil and improve drainage.

I like it because it loosens up the mix while adding a bit of water retention. The essential element in well drained soil is oxygen. Perlite helps aerate the soil hold water and keep soil from packing down. Perlite is a lightweight sterile addition to bagged and homemade potting mixes.

In contrast to peat coir rewets easily and doesn t compress as readily. Mix the native clay half and half with coarse sand or crusher fines. Sphagnum moss is also used as a liner for hanging baskets of plants. Soilless potting mix starting seeds in soil.

Check out this earlier post about coir. A simple test to find out if your soil is well draining. Dig a hole 30 centimetres deep and wide. If the water drains from the hole in 10 minutes or less you have fast draining soil.

Dig a hole once the soil and compost are completely combined that is 12 inches square and about 12 inches deep. Cacti and succulents thrive better in soil that drains easily and doesn t retain a lot of water. This is the most common and well known additive to improve soil drainage. The fifth and final way to improve soil drainage is to use additives in your soil.

You don t know what s coming in with it. There are a few different ones that will make your soil drain better and perhaps help with nutrition at the same time. Coir is the coarse fiber from the outer husk of coconuts. 1 part commercial potting soil.

With a neutral ph perlite is easy to find at nurseries and garden centers. Fill it with water. How to mix your own cactus and succulent soil. It holds three to four times its weight in water increases pore space and improves drainage.

Use additives to improve soil drainage. Don t use fine sand. 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. This will create concrete.

Fill the hole with water then allow it to drain completely before filling it again. 1 besides being free of disease and other contaminants you can.