How to make your own planting soil?

Ever wanted to make your own planting soil?

In this article I will teach you how to make your own planting soil with simple and cheap ingredients, to help you keep your garden always green and healthy. When you make your own soil, you can tailor specific plant needs, such as nutrients, specific pH, and other aspects.

This customization allows you to address various factors such as nutrient requirements, pH levels, moisture retention, and soil texture, among others, ensuring optimal growing conditions for your plants.

Table of Contents

• What is a planting soil?
• What is the best homemade potting soil?
• Is it cheaper to make your own planting soil?

What is a planting soil?

Planting soil is the medium in which plants grow. It is a material that will provide nutrients, and water, and hold moisture around the roots of the plants.

Unlike regular garden soil, the planting soil is lighter and fluffier, containing a mix of ingredients, to ensure drainage and aeration.

Planting soil typically consists of a blend of several components, such as organic matter, inorganic additives, nutrients, and pH adjusters. They have the function to supply nutrients, retain moisture, and supporting the roots.

What is the best homemade potting soil?

Although there are several alternatives of ready-to-use potting soil in the market, you want to make your own blend of nutrients, based on the specific needs of your plants.

If that is the case, look at the following recipe for a potting mix:

• 1 part Peat Moss
• 1 part Perlite
• 2 parts compost

This is the basic mix you can do. After you mix it, you can adjust the pH of your mixing by adding liming to make it more acidic or sulfur to make it more alkaline.

Peat moss is an organic material. It is derived from decomposed sphagnum moss. It is responsible for moisture retention, aeration, and acidification.

The perlite is a volcanic mineral that undergoes expansion when heated. It is commonly used as a soil amendment in potting mixes due to its excellent drainage and aeration properties.

Compost is a nutrient-rich organic material produced through the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It serves multiple functions in a potting mix such as nutrient supply, soil structure, and microbial activity.

For seed-starting, a common recipe for a seed-starting mix is as follows:

• 2 parts compost
• 2 parts peat moss
• 1 part perlite or vermiculite 

This blend provides a lightweight and well-draining medium that is ideal for germinating seeds and supporting healthy seedling growth.

This seed starting mix provides the necessary nutrients, moisture retention, aeration, and drainage for healthy plant development from the earliest stages.

Is it cheaper to make your own planting soil?

In a large scale, when you make your own planting soil generally is a more cost-effective and sustainable option.

By creating your own soil, you can purchase ingredients in bulk, benefiting from lower prices per volume.

Additionally, the ability to customize the soil composition according to the specific needs of plants allows you to avoid additional costs associated with purchasing several types of substrates.

By using locally available organic materials, such as composting garden or farm waste, you can further reduce costs while promoting material recycling and minimizing environmental impact. Therefore, by producing your own planting soil on a large scale, you can obtain a more affordable solution tailored to the needs of the plants and the project budget.

The cost savings between making your own planting soil and buying it ready-made vary between 25% and 30% of the total value.

Do you have your own planting soil recipe? Let me know in the comments.

If you are thinking about start a garden checkout our post about how to start a garden for beginners.