ErrorException Message: WP_Translation_Controller::load_file(): Argument #2 ($textdomain) must be of type string, null given, called in /home4/rvanjsu1/public_html/wp-includes/l10n.php on line 838 https://www.gkvks.com/wp-content/plugins/dmca-badge/libraries/sidecar/classes/vermiculite – GKVKs – Gardening Tips and Store
https://www.gkvks.com
Gardening Tips and StoreSat, 14 Sep 2019 14:23:31 +0000en-US
hourly
1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2https://www.gkvks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-icon-512-32x32.pngvermiculite – GKVKs – Gardening Tips and Store
https://www.gkvks.com
3232DIY POTTING SOIL RECIPE FOR INDOOR PLANTS
https://www.gkvks.com/diy-potting-soil-recipe-for-indoor-plants/
https://www.gkvks.com/diy-potting-soil-recipe-for-indoor-plants/#respondSat, 14 Sep 2019 14:23:26 +0000http://www.gkvks.com/?p=3024In Today’s post we will look into the best potting mix or the
potting soil recipe for indoor container gardening. The various ingredients
used and the function of each will be explained with simple concepts.
Urban gardening or small-space gardening in containers is on
the rise! And the number of people growing plants indoors is also on the rise.
The most important aspect of container gardening is the potting medium used,
because this, along with light and moisture will be the most important factor
to help your plants grow healthier and disease free.
I never use the commercial potting mixes available, which are infact too expensive.
I rather prefer to make my own homemade potting mix recipe for both my indoor
and outdoor plants
Now, lets start looking at the ingredients we use to prepare
our indoor soil mix, one by one. We will list out the formula or the recipe
with the proportions of each ingredient used, shortly.
Garden
Soil: This forms the major component of an outdoor potting soil recipe
because one of its major functions is plant anchorage which is very important
for outdoor plants which can easily knocked down by strong winds. We will use
garden soil in our indoor potting mix too but in smaller quantity.
Cocopeat
or Peat Moss: I prefer cocopeat because its easily available and inexpensive
and has a neutral PH. Plus mixing this with garden soil removes the compactness
of garden soil and makes it well draining. This forms the major ingredient of
our indoor potting mix. Its available as a compact brick or in powdered form. The
coco peat brick can be easily reconstituted into cocopeat powder by mixing it
in water. One brick of about 5 kgs will give you a large volume of upto 75
liters of cocopeat powder.
Compost:
like vermicompost or decomposed cowdung or horse dung powder or both. Compost
manure is an essential component of any potting mix to provide the major and
minor plants nutrients like the NPK – nitrogen phosphorous and potassium along
with the trace elements. We have already discussed this in our previous episode
on the basics of indoor gardening.
Neem Cake
Powder: This is optional. But adding this will take care of any fungus and
harmful bacterial growths and protects your plants.
Bone Meal
Powder: This is again optional but very useful if you are growing
vegetables or flowering plants indoors under grow lights. This will induce
flowering and fruiting if mixed in potting soil.
Perlite,
Vermiculite or Pumice: All these serve the same purpose of making a well
draining potting mix plus adding a good aeration system for roots. Among these Vermiculite should be cautiously
used, because it holds lot of moisture and can rot you plants especially
succulents. Vermiculite can be used for water loving plants like lucky bamboo
and others. Pumice and Perlite are the best options. Among these two, the main drawback
of Perlite is it gets crushed into powder if you use it along with too much garden
soil and in this case pumice is the best if available. Garden Pumice or
horticultural pumice is available in various grades or sizes and it does not
get crushed unlike perlite. You can find the links to purchase these items online
in the description below.
Now quickly, before the formula
or recipe, lets know the difference between Potting Mix and Potting Soil.
Potting Mix is simply a mixture of all the above ingredients minus the garden
soil. That’s means it is a soil less medium. On the other hand, Its called
Potting soil when you use garden soil in the mixture. That’s simple! But most
often these two terms are used synonymously.
Well, here in this recipe, considering the importance of plant anchorage, we
will use garden soil too but in small quantity.
Now lets look into the actual
recipe of this indoor potting soil.
Cocopeat forms about 40 to 50 percent of this
mix.
Garden soil about 10 or 20 percent.
Perlite or Pumice or both about 20 percent
Compost like vermicompost or Cow dung compost or
a mixture of both 20 percent depending on what you want to grow. For veggies
and flowering plants, you can increase this to 30 percent. For ornamental
plants 10 to 20 percent is sufficient. This can also be added later on to the
top layer of the soil – a handful of it per container once or twice in a month.
Optionally you can add 5 percent bone meal plus neem cake powder.