I’m new to this and I’ve been using only cactus potting soil with perlite. I’ve been told that it is sufficient, but I feel like my soil retains moisture more than I’d like and i want to avoid root rot as much as possible. Is this a good option? Is there better options?
by Elaurin1102
7 Comments
Never used it myself but I’ve heard great things. I personally go with a cheaper mix but I sift for wood pieces and have to add more drainage ingredients (pumice, perlite, etc.) and it seems like this might be a mix you could avoid those steps with. Again, no first hand experience, just what others have said.
Make your own and stretch that same $31 cost way farther. If you’re worried about your soil retaining too much water, add more drainage (pumice if available) and give it airflow.
Are you growing outdoors or indoors? Whats your climate like? Lot of things to consider when finding your right soil mix.
Way way overpriced but I have heard people say good things. Ideally if you have a collection of 10 or more plants you should be hitting up local landscaping and soil supply depots.
Last trip I made out to American Soil and Stone I grabbed about 400x this amount of premium cannabis soil/pumice for less than 10x the price.
You can go to tractor supply and get chicken grit which is just granite pieces. While your there get a bag of perlite and worm castings and you can make your own version of this way cheaper and get way more than a gallon.
That’s crazy overpriced, get a bail of peat moss and your choice of aeration and mix your own soil, I like to use 3/8 inch granite gravel as my aeration, it’s stupid cheap 1$ per 5 gallon bucket where I’m at only down side is it’s heavy, but it does also contribute some mineral value as well
Way over priced. Once you buy the ingredients; Manure, biochar, Peat or coco, bark, husks anything considered “organic materials” that will decompose or increase CEC should make up only 15% to 25% of the mix, you being in a very humid climate should try 10% by weight, by volume can get you close but particle density plays a huge part in this which is why I recommend a food scale.
The rest of the mix is just coarse materials for maximum drainage; rocks, coarse sand, perlite, pumice and calcined clay (turface) to make up the 75% to 90% of the rest of the media.
Adding garden lime is a good idea typically cacti like higher Ph and this is a longer grow so the soil will naturally become more acidic over time. The other pricey part is the mycorhyze beneficial bacteria which is ESSENTIAL. by pricey I mean 40.00 for a 1lb bag you’ll use a tablespoon/5gallons of media. Not bad.
When you break “spike & bloom” down and buy them individually, you’ll notice that the majority of materials used in this bag are the lowest costing materials available (sand, clay, perlite, etc. 90% of the bag)
Set up an account with a commercial irrigation supplier, farm supplier, landscape materials distributor, any one who can get you agricultural materials at a wholesale price with his fert license, distributor license and in most cases they will have a nursery license so anything you want they can get.
Or Just get a bag of fox farm, a bag of Perlite, a bag of turface, bag of wash sand, some 1/2″ rock, mix accordingly to that ratio, and call it a day.
This stuff is amazing! It’s great with drainage, it looks nice with any cactus and contains mycorrhizae to promote healthy roots and in turn, growth. However, it is a small bag at a large cost and depending on the size of your pot.. you may need a few bags. If money isn’t the issue.. buy it!