Free Draining Soil Mix

Coir is the coarse fiber from the outer husk of coconuts.

Free draining soil mix.

Sphagnum peat moss is mixed into sandy soils to help hold moisture and into clay soils to loosen the soil and improve drainage. In contrast to peat coir rewets easily and doesn t compress as readily. 1 besides being free of disease and other contaminants you can. The essential element in well drained soil is oxygen.

Use additives to improve soil drainage. Don t use fine sand. Cacti and succulents thrive better in soil that drains easily and doesn t retain a lot of water. Disease spores bacteria plant eating insects weed.

Fill it with water. A simple test to find out if your soil is well draining. If your soil is well draining the time the water takes to drain. There are a few different ones that will make your soil drain better and perhaps help with nutrition at the same time.

A soilless mix gives you more control. Check out this earlier post about coir. You don t know what s coming in with it. If the water drains from the hole in 10 minutes or less you have fast draining soil.

1 part commercial potting soil. Fill the hole with water then allow it to drain completely before filling it again. With a neutral ph perlite is easy to find at nurseries and garden centers. The fifth and final way to improve soil drainage is to use additives in your soil.

This will create concrete. Sphagnum moss is also used as a liner for hanging baskets of plants. Commercial nurseries often sell pre mixed bags of special soil but this is often at a premium. This is the most common and well known additive to improve soil drainage.

I like it because it loosens up the mix while adding a bit of water retention. Perlite is a lightweight sterile addition to bagged and homemade potting mixes. Perlite helps aerate the soil hold water and keep soil from packing down. Dig a hole 30 centimetres deep and wide.

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. If the water takes an hour or more to drain you have poorly draining soil. It holds three to four times its weight in water increases pore space and improves drainage. Soilless potting mix starting seeds in soil.

Bark is added to. One popular brand of perlite is espoma perlite.