Add grit of one kind or another - a clean one would be that small size glassy looking gravel sold for aquariums (vs the pea sized painted looking kind), along with perlite for lightness. You also could ask a local nursery or garden centre if they have a coarse, porous type of soil (not topsoil) that drains faster than potting soil (because of the peat in p.s. that keeps roots in danger of rotting by never drying), and mix that with some perlite and grit. You may end up having to water more often (and never let pots sit in drain water at all) but your plants won't get fungus problems, or gnats, or rotted roots and will get the 02 they need, which compacted p.s. doesn't allow. Only water from above, not by immersion.

You don't HAVE to mix your own soil. I do it because I like to. Many plants that I keep in containers, like a lot of unusual palms, need a "little something extra" to do well, more organic matter in the soil but still fast draining so I add additional peat and perlite. The rhizhomatous plants I grow like the soil to drain superfast, so I add wood ships, perlite, nutshells...whatever is lying around.

The one thing you want to avoid for ANY plant, especially one that is going top be growing indoors away from the "drying" qualities of natural sun and wind, is soil that compresses and compacts and retains too much water. Many potting soils right out of the bag have this quality, unfortunately.

Well what's the most basic recipe without going crazy.
P.S.
Perlite
Peat moss?
vermiculite?

The most basic recipe I've used more or less successfully is:

2 or 3 parts potting soil from a bag (Ball makes a nice one)
1 part perlite.

This has a tendency to separate out, as the perlite is lighter than the rest of the mix, but other than that, it works fine. And usually only the top inch or so separates.

I also like adding some fired clay pieces -- Turface is supposed to be good though I have yet to see it for sale here, but there are also "aquatic soils" that are sold bagged which are basically also fired clay gravel. Expensive and heavy, but a little goes a long way, too.

I use Cactus & Succulent soil (which seems to have less peat than other bagged products),
as a starting base. I add thirty to forty percent Perlite, mix it, add a few cups of
unpainted pea gravel or similar, add half a handful of oyster shell and alfalfa pellets,
mix it, and I'm ready to go. I usually pot the plant, then add a bit more soil to the
pot to help keep the Perlite from rising to the top.

*Lately, I've been incorporating more yard/garden soil into my mix. If you have
workable yard soil, use that instead of bagged mix (or, at the least, blend the two
together).

Josh

Turface can be found as a product packaged by Schultz and labeled "Schultz Soil Conditioner".

I cannot agree with the idea that garden/yard/top soils or sands finer than 1/16" should be suggested for inclusion in container soils. They pretty much assure reduced aeration with accompanying high levels of compaction and water retention.

The best houseplant soil will be nonpyhtotoxic, made of durable ingredients (decompose very slowly or not at all) and will have high aeration and good water retention. Since it is up to us to provide elemental nutritional needs, from the plant's or a physiological perspective, nothing else should be important enough to cause us to want to sacrifice the important relationship between aeration/water retention. As noted above, many soils do that right from the bag.

If we simply must have a soil that we can count on to remain wet for a week, then we should be aware that this is a convenience and a compromise we pay for in the form or reduced root health/function, and therefore in a reduction in the vitality of the entire organism.

Al

*Nevermind. Bad suggestion. Sorry, Al.

Josh

Actually Josh its not a bad suggestion. I do it all the time. But the key word you used was "workable".
I have tons of natural leaf mold from a very healthy population of earthworms and deciduous trees on my place that I can and do scrape up and use for containers. Works GREAT!

Thanks, Bihai. I really should have been more specific, though, and said, If you have soil like I do, incorporate it. I have an earthworm mulch-pile, too ;)

I am embarrassed to say that I prefer to water weekly. When I am not mentally challenged I ignore my plants. When I am needy I let my plants nurture me so I spend more time with them. My goal is to work with my plants weekly. I love reading Al's posts so now I am adding one part perlite and one part bark to a good potting mix. I am mentally challenged right now and I am fearful of overwatering. I NEED SPRING TO HAPPEN IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

With all the "recipes" given. Can I use it for any household plants or do I need to mix differently for say like cacti and succulents.

Here is my own personal recipe, though it's not too different from what a lot of people do:

2 parts commercial potting soil (the kind w/o slow release fertilizer)
1/2 part perlite
1/2 part charcoal

I tweak the mix slightly by adding a bit more of the latter two if I'm potting C&S or there's a lot of peat in the soil.

As far as I'm concerned if you DON'T use anything with peat moss in it, and leave out the vermiculite, your plants will be much, much happier and far less in danger of drowning and choking.

Saucer, why the charcoal?

Peat moss is pretty necessary to my plants, I couldn't do without it. That's just my preference though

bihai, you'd be surprised at how well your plants could do without peat moss, even if YOU can't. ;-)

Indeed, Dori. Whenever we have trouble with a container soil, in a huge % of the instances it comes as a result of collapsing soil. Organic components break down into soup eventually. Leaf mold, peat, compost all break down quickly, rob aeration and increase water retention beyond healthy levels as they do. WE cannot depend on the organic components of container soils to deliver a well-rounded nutrient supply, so that responsibility rests squarely on our shoulders. Why then would we use these ingredients in any appreciable volume?

Conifer bark breaks down at 1/4 the rate of peat and I bet at at least 1/6 the rate of leaf mold. Using conifer bark with a substantial mineral component (perlite, Turface, soil conditioner by Schultz, haydite, pumice) will yield a much more productive soil than the peat based soils and will be soo much easier to grow in. It eliminates soo much grower error as well. Plants with happy roots have a fractional amount of insect and disease problems as well. A huge % of the seemingly tertiary problems related when posters ask for help on this forum can be traced to reduced vitality as a result of poor soil.

In the case of the quote "It works for me", I say that's very fine. If (the collective) you have no wish to change anything, then don't. Some growers might be so skilled they can grow in concrete, but for those who haven't really worked out a soil solution that's satisfactory yet, I suggest that you stay away from the small particled stuff (sand, compost, leaf mold, topsoil, garden soil, large volumes of peat ... and consider looking into a well-aerated mix with parts that insure longevity.

The organic component of a houseplant soil is extremely unimportant, except for the requirement that it should not break down quickly. Folks, you can grow perfectly healthy and vital plants in an ALL MINERAL - NO ORGANIC COMPONENT (this means NO peat at all) soil if the particle size is appropriate. The structure of the soil and its ability to hold water is nearly all, and what materials the soil is made from is is nearly nothing, as long as they are not poison to plants.

If you doubt what I'm saying - I'll prove it by growing a perfectly happy plant in nothing but 100% broken glass. ;o)

Al

You could probably grow a plant in nothing but golf-balls, too ;)

I agree with what you're saying, Al, and I am slowly but surely reducing the organic material in my mixes. I'm also paying closer attention to particle sizes.

Thanks again!

Josh

Toots, it's said, Charcoal keeps soil fresh and allows air to reach roots..It also helps keep soil fresh smelling..

I add peat for plants that need acidic soil..Gardenia, citrus, ferns, palms..that's only to name a few..Toni

Would I use a different recipe for rooting cuttings or the same?

Excellent for rooting cuttings:

100% perlite
100% Turface (or Schultz Soil Conditioner - same stuff)
100% Espoma's Soil Perfector
100% chopped sphagnum moss

Any combination of the above, but the chopped sphagnum is excellent in the media. Do not confuse chopped sphagnum moss with sphagnum peat - they are different.

Al

Is this all stuff I can find at a Home Depot or is it a challenge to find?

I'm sure you can find the Perlite.
You can probably get the sphagnum moss, too.

Josh

You may not find it all at HD, but it's fairly easy to acquire if you look around a little.

Al