After years of trial, I finally make the best succulent potting soil recipe. If your succulents do not grow well in commercial potting soil. Then you can make the succulent soil at home. Today I am going to share my secret succulent soil recipe.
For the last 7 years, I stop buying succulent soil from garden stores. I make it at home and it cost me less than the commercial selling potting soil.
In this article, you will learn the cheap and super easy succulent soil-making formula.
Which is the best soil for succulents?
Soil is an important part when you decide to grow succulent plants. No doubt plants need fertile soil to grow. But soil fertility is not everything. It should also have well-draining properties and be light in weight.
As we all know succulent plants do not like much moisture in the soil. This means they need soil that drains fast after watering the plants.
In agricultural seminars when gardeners share their succulent growing problems with us. In most cases, the problems are related to excess watering. If you choose the right potting soil for growing succulents then you do not need to worry about overwatering. The best succulent potting soil can save plants from accidental over-watering.
Read the below part to know more about succulent potting soil
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How to make succulent potting soil?
If you look closely, you’ll find that most of the garden store succulent soils are not coarse enough for growing and maintaining a plant.
7 years ago I decided to make succulent soil at home. I learned about different growing mediums. Also learned about their benefits and drawback. Then I make multiple recipes with different ingredients and finally get success.
The ingredients of the formula are easily available in all garden stores. The good news is they are not expensive. By using them you can also make potting soils for other plants.
There are many benefits of making succulent potting soil at home. For me, the main benefit is low cost and easy control over the soil ingredients.
Every house has different humidity and temperature range. Therefore, with the Diy soil recipe, you can make special soil for the plants according to your home growing conditions.
The ingredients
To make succulent soil at home you only need 3 ingredients. These are easily available in all garden stores and are cheap to buy.
Potting soil
Perlite or Pumice
Potting soil:
The first thing that we need to use is the base of the soil. Every formula in the world has some kind of base. In succulent soil formula, all-purpose potting soil will be the best base. You can use any kind of indoor plant potting soil that you have at home or you see in a garden store.
Do not go for brands because they sell the same thing. The only difference is in their packaging and price tag. Look for the potting soil that is on Sale at the time. Just keep in mind that the base soil has to be coarse and lightweight for making potting soil for succulents.
Do not use garden soil that is heavy and becomes water-logged when watered. Potting soil that has vermiculite or compost is not recommended for this succulent soil formula. These substances have high moisture content. This increases the chances of soil heaviness and over-watering. Because we are adding perlite in it. It also holds water for a long time.
Succulents need fast-draining potting soil that only holds a little bit of moisture for a long time. They don’t need heavy moisture in their root area.
Coarse Sand
Sand makes the soil porous and succulents like such type of soil to easily expand their roots. Therefore, we need coarse sand to make our potting soil porous.
All types of sand are lightweight and make soil porous but I use coarse sand. This has proven results.
Note: Most of the time people use their garden sand or beach sand in the formula. But you should avoid it. Because nobody knows which type of bacteria is present in the sand. Such material can do lots of harm to the succulent plants instead of any benefit.
Perlite
It is a well-known ingredient in the horticultural industry. Most greenhouse projects use water or perlite to grow plants. The good news is it is totally natural and organic material. Perlite is light in weight and makes the soil fluffy. This increases aeration and saves plants from many diseases.
But the main purpose of adding perlite to the formula is moisture. Perlite has tiny pores in it. When adding it to the soil and watering the plants. The water gets stored in tiny pores of it and this expands the size of the perlite stone.
Go to your nearby home improvement store and ask them for the perlite. There you can find it on sale.
How to prepare succulent potting soil?
You also need some extra supplies to mix the ingredients. A measuring container, trowel, and mixing tray. Instead of a mixing tray, you can use any old big-size plastic bucket.
Now you need to follow the below formula to make succulent soil.
3 parts potting soil + 2 parts coarse sand + 1 part perlite
Use a scoop to measure 1 part of the soil. In simple words, the 1 scoop of soil is called 1 part of the soil. You can also use a cup instead of a scoop. Then 1 cup of soil will be the 1 part of the soil and 2 cups mean 2 parts of soil.
Put everything in the bucket at once. Then use your hands or trowel to mix it well. Your succulent soil is ready to use.
How to store the homemade succulent soil?
The best thing about homemade succulent soil is you can easily store it in any part of the house for years. I make the soil in bulk and then store it in my garage and sometimes in a garden shed if it has some free space.
A plastic bucket is good for storing succulent potting soil. The bucket you use has to have an air-tight lid. This will prevent any unwanted pests.
This soil can also be used for propagating succulent plants.
