If your current soil stays moist/wet for a long time, then it is peat based and not a great choice (peat based soils absorb and retain too much water. They also are too fine a particle size and collapse and compress, impacting both drainage and aeration).

You can use your current potting soil as a base but need to add more textural and durable components to the mix. I'd mix 50-50 with bark fines (preferred) or perlite (2nd choice). Ideally what you want is something akin to the 5-1-1 mix: 5 parts bark fines, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite.

hi... welcome ...

i consider potting media as a water management system .... to shed excess water.. while retaining what is needed for the type of plant in the pot ...

as such .. imo.. anything that holds water for two weeks.. and does not cause harm to the plant.. because you know how to use it.. is a brilliant product .... and i wonder why fix it ...

bonsai on the other hand ... is a system of severely dwarfing plants.. usually trees ... thru extreme root pruning ... which necessitates the need for perfect media for trees .. which actually like to have a drink and then near total drainage and near drying before watering again.. including manipulated nutrient application due to the aforementioned ...

soo.. you should note.. that that is two almost bipolar uses of potting media ...

and as i read your your premise.. you want to take the rules from one system.. and apply it to the other system ..... and again ..... i wonder why ....

if your plants are currently not suffering ..... why change anything???

and on the other hand.. have fun with bonsai ... but it is a system unto itself ...

dont fix.. what isnt broke ....

ken

Ken, if the media holds water for 2 weeks without additional watering, then the system is indeed "broke"!! Only bog plants want that much water surrounding their roots continuously. So nothing "brilliant" about that! If the soil media stays wet that long, it will deprive the roots of oxygen and root rots will set in quickly. There are ENDLESS threads on both the Houseplants forum and the Container Gardening forum about excessively moisture retentive potting mixes and the problems they generate. Fixing or improving the media and repotting is almost always advised and ASAP!

And do not be misled by using a 'bonsai' soil mix or a 'cactus' soil mix as being restricted to just those types of growing methods or plants. Both are fast draining soil mixes and for 99% of plants being gown in a container setting that is exactly what is required. They are actually very good media for just about any kind of container planting. The 'rules' of growing in containers is pretty uniform regardless of the plant type.

@gardengal48

Thanks for the advice! I actually have done quite a bit more research since posting this question earlier today and I think I may just amend the soil with some pumice. I like pumice over perlite more for an aesthetic choice (i don't really like the blinding white of perlite), and I don't like how perlite floats when watering.

It seems like adding pumice would solve my problem, but please let me know if i'm wrong. Now, i don't know what the ratio of pumice to soil should be. Educated guess makes me think maybe 40% pumice and 60% Coast of Maine potting soil? I ideally would like to water twice a week during the growing season.

What do you think?

Or actually, I just saw you recommendation of 50-50. Could i do that with pumice? Why do you prefer bark?

I prefer the bark as that brings you closer to the formula and theory behind the 5-1-1 mix. But adding the pumice should come pretty close to accomplishing what you need. And the pumice is a completely acceptable substitute for perlite.

I have used whatever grit is available. Expanded shale, scoria, pumice, perlite, crushed granite, very coarse river sand, bark and a mixture of many, Its like making stew, different every time.