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Also, there are chances that the commercial soil mix that you bought for your succulents contains less sand. This means that it can hold more water, which is not ideal.
Why Should You Choose the Best Soil for Your Succulents?
When you are planting your succulents in containers, it is essential to choose the proper succulent potting soil mix. One of the major problems of growing succulents is overwatering. Sometimes this can lead to the death of your succulent. Because of this, you must use the best type of soil for your succulents. The best succulent soil has a mixture of porous soil so it can drain well, and overwatering can easily be prevented.
Why Is It Important to Make Your Succulent Soil Mix?
Making your own succulent soil mix has plenty of benefits. First of all, it is much cheaper and at the same time, you can choose the ingredients that you want to include. You can even save more by making potting soil mix in bulk. By having total control of the ingredients, you can choose to alter your succulent soil mix recipe to make it perfect for your succulents.
How to Make Your DIY Succulent Soil Mix
Sometimes those commercial succulent soil mixes that are sold out there are not coarse enough. Here, we will teach you how to make your succulent soil mix that is just right for your succulents. They are cheaper and super easy to make. Most of all, they are the best for your succulents.
The ingredients that are needed are readily available online or in your local garden stores. Additionally, these ingredients are reusable. You can use them in creating other types of DIY potting soil.
What Are Needed in Making DIY Succulent Potting Soil?
Making your succulent soil only requires three ingredients. Most importantly, they can be easily found in home improvement stores and garden centers. The ingredients for your succulent soil mix are potting soil, coarse sand and perlite or pumice.
Potting Soil
You can use any kind of potting soil that is intended for indoor plants. It will be used as the base for your succulent soil so make sure that it is fresh and sterile. There are different brands that you can choose from. It is highly likely that you will choose the one that is readily available in stores. As much as possible, look for light, porous soil. Avoid using heavy garden soils and don’t choose the ones which contain vermiculite, or other kinds of moisture control. You need to remember that succulents require a potting soil mix that can drain well and not a soil that can keep moisture.
Coarse Sand
It is best to grow succulents in a porous sandy potting soil. Hence, you must mix your potting soil with sand. Essentially, you can use any kind of soil, however, you need to make sure that it can drain well. Choosing coarse sand is a good choice than using fine sand.
Avoid using sand that comes from the beach, garden, or a sandbox. If sand is not available or you don’t want to use sand, then you can always use turface or poultry grit as an alternative.
Perlite or Pumice
Perlite is a modified organic soil. It is very light and looks just like small pieces of Styrofoam. Perlite provides better drainage and holds little moisture which is perfect for your succulents. Just like potting soil, perlite or pumice can be bought in home improvement stores or garden centers. If you can’t find it in these stores, then you can purchase them online.
Aside from these three ingredients, you also need some supplies for mixing and measuring your ingredients. You will be needing a trowel, a measuring container, and a mixing container for the ingredients.
Recipe for DIY Succulent Soil
The ideal recipe for a succulent potting soil is three parts of potting soil, one part of perlite or pumice, and two parts of coarse sand. This is just the basic recipe however you can alter it if you want. If you want to make a cactus potting soil mix, then just add one half or one part of sand and perlite for additional drainage.
When we say “part”, it usually refers to the type of measurement that you use. For instance, if you are using a cup, then one part would mean one cup, two parts mean two cups, and three parts would refer to three cups.
How to Mix Your Succulent Potting Soil
It is very easy to mix your succulent potting soil all you have to do is put all the ingredients in your mixing container and stir them. You could also use your hands or a trowel in mixing all the ingredients, just make sure that they are mixed evenly.
How to Store Your Leftover Succulent Soil Mix
One of the best things about DIY succulent potting soil is you can store them for later use. You can easily store them on the shelf of your garage or basement. If you don’t want to make a big batch of the mixture, then you can just mix a batch that is just enough for your needs. Be sure to use an air-tight container when storing your succulent potting soil.
Eden Succulents can provide you more information on how to care and grow your succulents. We can guide you in watering, propagating, fertilizing, and lighting your succulents. We can also give you some suggestions on the best succulents to grow indoors or outdoors. If there is something that you want to know about succulents, then let us know about it in the comments below!
