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There are various reasons why you may want to make up your own
potting soil.  You could be trying to grow organic, or you just want to
make sure you know exactly what is in the soil because you'll be
growing vegetables or herbs.

You may be having problem with retaining moisture, or maybe the soil
is too wet and plant roots keep rotting.

Everyone's weather conditions are different, and everyone grows
different kinds of plants, so it's not far fetched to want to customize
your potting mix to the conditions at hand.

With a little tweaking, you too can solve a lot of problems by using
the appropriate soil mixture.  Use the recipes below as starting points.
I've also included some fertilizer recipes to add to the mixes.
Last Updated on March 6, 2010
Potting Soil Recipes
Soil Mix for Greenhouse Growing
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  • 2 parts sifted topsoil
  • 2 parts compost
  • 1 part peat moss
  • 1 part perlite
  • 1 part sand
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Soil Mix for Containers - General Growing
Heavier Mix (for areas that may get a lot of wind)
  • 2 parts commercial potting soil
  • 1 part builder's sand
  • 1 part compost
Soil Mix for Containers - General Growing
Lighter Mix (ideal for hanging baskets or window boxes)
  • 5 parts perlite
  • 5 parts compost
  • 1 part sifted topsoil
Soil Mix for Seed Starting
  • 1 part vermiculite or perlite
  • 1 part peat moss
  • 1 part compost
Soil Mix for Very Large Containers
  • 1 part compost
  • 1 part peat moss
  • 1 part composted pine bark
  • 1 part vermiculite
  • limestone
  • rock phosphate
  • green sand
  • granite dust
  • blood meal
Note: the amount needed for the limestone,
green sand, granite dust, and blood meal will
depend on the final size of the container.  Check
package instructions for amounts.
Fertilizer Recipes to be added
to the soil mixes you create
The following are slow release powdered
fertilizer recipes
Super Easy Potting Mix
(This is the mix I use most often)
  • 1 part potting mix
  • 1 part compost
General Purpose Fertilizer
Mix a handful into each pot, more for
very large pots
  • 2 parts blood meal
  • 3 parts bone meal
  • 6 parts green sand
For Alkaline Loving Plants
Mix a handful into each pot, more for
very large pots
  • Add a hand full of wood
    ash or oyster shells to the
    potting mix
For Acid Loving Plants
Mix a handful into each pot, more for
very large pots
  • Mix in more peat moss
    and/or cotton seed meal.
  • Powdered Sulphur