Whether you are an organic gardener or not, you should consider learning how to make potting mix for your own garden. Creating an organic potting mix will not only save you money, but will also allow you to grow healthier plants. Working on a potting mix recipe that grows tall and healthy garden plants is an art. You can get the job done without going overboard, while you remain conscious of your environmental responsibility.

There are a number of ways to mix various raw materials, so you can achieve the kind of potting mix required for your plants. The best combination of potting mix normally includes a mixture of organic materials for plant nutrition, water retention, and good drainage. Regardless of the size of your garden, you always have the choice to tailor the potting mix in order to meet your gardening requirements. Here’s how to do it.

1. Supplies needed. You only have to prepare your ingredients, a mixing container, and a place where you can store your mix in case you will not use it immediately. You can consider using a trash can for mixing purposes, or storage tote for storage purposes.

2. Gather the ingredients. You can use a shovel, your arm, or a stick to mix the ingredients. If you have or can borrow a concrete mixer, then mixing the ingredients will become very easy. Often, potting mixes are soil-less. Soil is not only heavy, but it is also incapable of holding moisture. Furthermore, soil usually harbors disease-causing pests and insects that can potentially harm your plants and flowers.

   It is recommended, therefore, that you use ingredients that can easily hold air and water in conjunction with other recipes that can provide nutrients to the soil and plants. The most popular air and water holding ingredients include peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, and newspaper.

3. Use peat moss. It is commonly used in many commercial potting soils since it does a great job of holding water and air. The ability of peat moss to keep water while allowing proper air circulation to the roots makes it popular for making potting soil. Just ensure that the peat material chosen has not been treated chemically nor has it been applied with a wetting agent.

4. Use peat moss substitutes. There are a number of peat moss substitutes, such as once dried cow manure, decomposed wood chips and tree barks, and untreated sawdust. Many individuals also prefer to use leaf mold, an absolutely eco-friendly ingredient.

5. Use perlite. It is perfect for air circulation and drainage. Perlite refers to an amorphous volcanic glass widely used for water drainage. This prevents the plant roots from rotting easily.

6. Use vermiculate. This refers to a mineral that helps water retention. Humus, also called vermicompost, is a potential replacement that is very rich in nutrients. Humus is made from organic materials naturally decomposed by earthworms. To balance the soil pH, limestone and osmocote (slow-release nutrients) are sometimes incorporated into a potting soil.

7. Use newspaper. The principle behind this is to recycle and reuse. Gather old papers and newspapers, except glossy paper, and shred them to produce a peat moss substitute.

8. Combine the ingredients. Mix 8 quarts of peat moss, 1 quart of vermiculite, 1 quart of perlite, and a small quantity of shredded paper. For plants that need a dryer mix, like cactus plants, adjust the material by combining two parts of garden loam medium, one part of coarse sand, and one part of cow manure.

It is very useful to study how to make potting mix since most of the commercial potting mixes these days are expensive and have wetting agents, non-organic additives, and synthetic starter fertilizer contents. Commercial potting mixes may be convenient and widely available, but they can hardly produce healthy plants. On your first attempt to make a potting mix, ensure that your compost materials are capable of producing fluffy and light potting soil.