Real dirt smells so good I could eat it….
But I won’t. ;). Kinda. But for reals y’all- when you get that perfectly smelling soil in your hands you can hear the angels singing from above. This is what we had at our old homestead. But, since we recently moved we are dealing with 42 acres of unworked soil. Fun.
Just kidding. Not. Fun. At. All.
So, it came time to plant our seedlings and Beau knew of a DIY potting soil that included peat moss. Mama here didn’t want to use peat moss. There’s been debates going on for years whether it’s a renewable resource or not. I choose not to use peat moss due to the fact that it compacts easily which reduces the drainage and aeration of the soil. Not cool.. And since I have a black thumb I don’t need or want to set myself up to fail. Ya hear me?!
DIY Potting Soil
Beau and I have exact measurements that we use but for simplicity’s sake I will just convert what we use into parts. That way you can make a large or small amount.
To Make DIY Potting Soil You Will Need:
– 1 Part Vermiculite
– 1 Part Pre-Soaked Coconut Coir Brick (bricks will expand depending on size)
– 2 Parts Compost (we use our own but you can buy it)
– 1 cup of Worm Castings per 5 gallons of DIY Potting Soil (we use our own but you can buy it)
* Note- do not use coconut coir CHIP bricks (don’t ask how I know)
* Read the coconut coir brick because each brand expands to a different amount (each one of our bricks expanded to about 4ish quarts)
*** Parts don’t have to be exact.
How to Make DIY Potting Soil
It really is super duper easy and for that I am thankful!
1. Follow the directions on your coconut coir bricks to expanded them. This is done by soaking them in water. We used 5 gallon buckets for this.
Unwrap label
Throw bricks into specified amount of water. You can always add another brick if there is too much water- or add more water if there isn’t enough.
After 5 minutes (we added another brick)
Finished product
2. Now that your coconut coir is expanded you will just mix all of the ingredients together. We used a 5 gallon bucket to “measure” parts and poured them into a wheelbarrow to mix them together.
Pouring vermiculite into the wheelbarrow. Finished coconut coir is already in.
Adding compost and worm castings.
All finished! DIY Potting Soil.
That’s it folks! Easy peasy. Now go get dirty and make your own DIY potting mix!
Shared On: Clever Chicks, Maple Hill Hop, Home-making Monday’s, Tuesday’s with a Twist
I just put together my raised garden bed last weekend and am ready to get started — I just didn’t know what to use for my soil and this sounds perfect!!! Do you think this would be good as the top layer for my raised bed? I’m going to start with cardboard, newspaper, straw underneath but wasn’t sure on the soil. I too have a black thumb so I need to set myself up as much for success as possible lol!! 🙂
(I’ve already got my seedlings turning out nicely!!) 🙂
Yeah!!
I’m just curious to know how this worked out with your plants. Every time I use compost, either prepared or purchased, in potting soil, it caused all my seedlings and plants to damp off and smell terrible.
Hi Regina. So sorry to hear that. It worked fantastic for our seedlings this year!
Thanks for showing the coconut coir. I’ve never seen the steps to expanding it. So cool. Do you drain off the excess water, or dry it or anything? Looks like you’ve found your magic mix. Enjoy gettin’ dirty! Thanks for joining us this week on The Maple Hill Hop!
If you have excess water just throw in another brick! If you don’t have another brick then you can drain off the excess water. We mixed it until it was light and fluffy (by adding an extra brick) so we didn’t have to drain anything!
This looks like great growing medium! I have never heard of the coconut brick.. new to me and I will have to look into this. Thank you for sharing this… I hope your garden is wonderful this year! 🙂
This is something that I’ve always wanted to try! I would love it if you would link up to Garden Tuesday at Sidewalk Shoes today!
This is a fantastic recipe for potting soil! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Your problem with damping off of seedlings may not be your compost Regina. You may have a fungus or bacteria that lives in your home that does it. When you introduce wet and warm soil into your home to start seeds, the fungus or bacteria will colonize in the moist seed starting mix that you use and damage seeds and seedlings. A friend of mine had this happen to her yearly. One winter they replaced the furnace filters in their home and I remember that year she had no problems with losing seedlings. Also try to not over water your seedlings- and try adding some gentle air movement around them after they emerge with a small fan.
Good luck!