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Soil Scientist’s Personal POTTING SOIL Recipe For Houseplants. “Heavy" Soil Is My Secret.
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May 27, 2022
You have been asking for my soil scientist-approved potting soil recipe for houseplants. I have been keeping it "secret" mostly because it is wildly different than a majority of houseplant potting soil recipes. With my DIY potting soil that I use for indoor plants, I take into consideration a few things. Such as my current lifestyle, watering personality & even my pot type (porous or non-porous). EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT I AM MAKING A PLANT SENSOR For updates and help designing sign up here: https://gardeningincanada.earthone.io The sensor is not simply going to tell you if your humidity is high enough or when you need to water your plants. The purpose of the sensor is to help you learn while optimizing plant growth in your microenvironment. This is being done using plant science such as VPD. This means we won’t tell you to simply raise your humidity we will teach you what the best humidity is for your temperature/environment. This will maximize growth but also prevent against harmful fungi. Another thing that makes this plant sensor different then others is the pH sensor. This is going to be key to ensuring your plants have optimal nutrient availability despite the inherent acidic pH of a potting soil mix. 1. We need your HELP. Seriously… What would you name the sensor? 2. Keep your eye out for surveys to help select what features the app should have, how it should look, etc. BUT there is only a limited quantity available for the first batch coming out in July. To make sure you get your sensor before they sell out sign up for the newsletter. You will be the first people to know the sensor is ready to go! 👩🔬 G R A B A P L A N N E R Paperback Houseplant Planner: https://geni.us/NFTrl2 Paperback Garden Planner: https://geni.us/s9zc Digital Download Planners https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/GardeningInCanada
View Video Transcript
0:00
Okay, it's official the video everyone in the house plant community on my channel anyways
0:04
that I has been waiting for is the soil scientist potting soil recipe
0:09
Today's episode, that's exactly what we're doing. One thing I am going to mention, though, is that this entire potting cell recipe is based on a few factors
0:18
It's based on my climate, my watering personality, how much time I have, and the pot type that I use
0:26
Sounds intense, but that's how I yze it down to. the bare bones. So if you're unsure of what potting soil you should be using based on your watering
0:35
personality or based on the type of pot you're using, then you should check out my DIY potting
0:40
soil recipe blog post because in there I did an entire chart of all the different types of potting
0:48
soil options you can use dependent on a few different factors. With that being said, I'm going to tell
0:54
you things that I'm adding that are technical and why I'm adding them and then things that just
0:59
make me feel good, which sounds weird, but it's true. Okay, so I hope heads not cut off
1:04
I can't really see, but fingers crossed here. I have a couple different products in front of me
1:12
This is like my main potting cell bin, and then this is actually my vermicast bin, which is just
1:19
my, my leftovers, my worm poo, if you will. Now inside this main bin, one of the
1:29
mean things you'll notice kind of right off the path with my mix is it has it's darker in color
1:37
and that is because I'm using a mix of coconut quar peat moss and then I also have things like
1:44
leka which sounds weird but it's about 10% leka I do find it helps with some erration in the event
1:52
that I do over water there's these little white egg looking things which are just my nematodes which
1:59
I use all the time and then I have a little bit of garden soil in here as well
2:06
Now what I do not have in here, which most people will put in, is coconut quark or coconut bark
2:13
or husk or some form of wood chip. And now the reason for that is because my personality is underwater to the max and it never
2:24
used to be that way. This is a new thing ever since I've gotten way too busy to actually water my
2:30
plants. So in order for me to keep up with these plants, I have chosen to omit anything that causes
2:38
a larger pore space. So larger pore space essentially means more air and less capillary action
2:46
because soil works on capillary action in many a case. So that's kind of the mix that I'm using here
2:53
initially and this is my bin mix that I have on hand at all time. This side, however, is my
3:00
vermacast. So this has been sifted through and all the wormys have been removed and any chunks
3:07
that may have been left over and this is just kind of my leftovers here. So I like to put this in
3:15
after the fact because I don't want, there's nutrient cycling happening in here, but I
3:23
want to give like a microbe or nutrient cycling microbe boost after the fact um while i'm going
3:30
to repot so i'm actually going to end up probably using this entire tub today so i'm going to mix
3:35
directly into the tub but typically speaking i'd be mixing directly into the pot or somewhere separately
3:41
but like i said we are playing some serious musical chairs here today so i'll do about a quarter
3:50
of what I had in the original, compared to the original volume
3:55
So it works out that 20-ish 5% of this is moist, or sorry, is vermicast
4:06
And I have pre-moistened the actual potting soil because my vermicast is very, very dry
4:15
And this will just help it incorporate in. and then I'm potting directly into a semi-moist soil, not sopping wet or anything like that
4:26
And one thing to keep in mind also with the vermicast is it does have that insect frass in it
4:33
So it's not as high as my actual insect frass, but this does have a little bit in there
4:41
And then I have sprinkled some in just with my regular potting soil. I've been doing it with all my garden transplants as well lately
4:48
and the theory behind that, it's not completely confirmed yet, but there's studies actually showing some pretty cool plant results
4:59
is that it causes like an autoimmune response in the plant, which ultimately for us means that it can fight against disease
5:12
in particular pathogenic fungi, and then also pests as well. It just toughens up the plant a little bit more
5:20
The plant can release some enzymes in the soil to try to scare off the insects, that sort of thing
5:27
So next up, what I have to put in is my fertilizer
5:34
So I don't grow my house plants organically because I'm an underwatering personality
5:42
So what happens when you underwater in a fully organic mix is you don't have nutrient cycling
5:51
because in order for microbes to survive and thrive, they need the right temperatures and
5:55
they need the right levels of moisture. And if we aren't able to provide that or we're letting things dry out too much, we run into
6:03
issues and those issues are no nutrient cycling. So if I put a synthetic in, I need a little bit of microbes
6:12
activity but for the most part I'm working off of solubilizing it with water and just
6:19
mechanical manipulation in more abiotic factors rather than biotic factors if you
6:26
will so I put a couple scoopfuls of that that's just a balanced um fertilizer it's a 1212 12
6:35
a little bit of sulfur a little bit of calcium And that is about it My micronutrients I relying on my garden soil that I put in So like I said that about 25 of this mix is actual garden soil
6:52
And then 25% now is also vermacast. The rest is potting soil
6:58
And then there is some pearly in here. Not much, though. I keep it pretty heavy
7:02
I keep my mix pretty darn heavy because that's the way I like it
7:06
So that's it for the mix. Let's sit down and talk about some of my concerns about my mix
7:13
And some things I actually don't really know what's happening with it. And I'm hoping that I have a solution
7:20
So one of the things or several of the things that I am concerned about with my pottingsill mix is I don't know nutrient availability wise how much is in there
7:30
Meaning I don't know how much money I'm putting down the drain because of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium
7:36
Now, I try to keep it pretty even, but it is a soilless material, so it's really hard to guesstimate that
7:44
And the other issue, and probably one of my biggest issues, is my pH
7:50
How do I know if it's accurate? So there are pH meters out there, but to be honest, since the plant craze hit, I do feel like they've gone downhill drastically compared to what they used to be
8:05
Also, they tend to fall apart really, really quickly and they don't last very long
8:11
And in an ideal world, I would also like to know what my soil moisture is at beyond what my fingers can reach
8:20
I cannot tell what the bottom of my container is moisturized. I can only really tell what the top is
8:26
And that's only if I don't let it dry out enough to cause kind of that matting that we see, typically with a potting soil
8:33
So with this all being said, I and along with a team of Canadian engineers have conceptualized and put together a plant sensor with an app
8:47
I know that sounds crazy, but we officially have a sensor that senses things like light, moisture, pH, soil pH, yes, accurately, and it works
9:01
It is not off and it is not junk. And it also is able to calculate things like your VPD, which we did a video on how to maximize your plant growth, which I'm very interested to see
9:12
And then for those indoor growers that grow things like tomatoes and cucumbers, herbs and lettuce, there's also a GDD calculator, meaning it'll tell you when it's ready to harvest
9:23
But just overall, it's going to give you a ton of data. So the sensors and what sensors are best was completely chosen and designed by our Canadian engineers
9:35
But the whole soil plant science side was kind of conceptualized by myself
9:44
And then we have software engineers that designed an entire app. So it's a team of us putting this together essentially
9:50
But it's all to help you guys. And with that being said, these aren't going to be released until like
9:56
end of June probably July sometime however while we're leading up to that date
10:03
we're not artis if you will it's a scientist and some engineers so with that
10:12
being said I'm gonna need your guys itself we're gonna need your guys as help
10:16
we need you to help us select things like what the app should look like or
10:22
what I even the name of the actual device should be Yes, I'm not joking. We're literally calling a sensor right now because yeah, that's all we got
10:33
So if you guys have ideas as to what it should be called, if you have, you know, concepts of what you think you should be able to see on the app and interact with, all that sort of stuff, I'm going to be posting polls both in the community tab on YouTube as well as over on Instagram
10:51
You guys can actually do like A versus B or whatever. and you can help us design this
10:59
And I want to just put this out there. I don't think you guys realize we've been working on this
11:05
They've been working on this for two years now. I got pulled into the mix probably a year ago
11:11
So this has taken a really long time to put together. This was not whipped up overnight
11:16
I have been trying to keep this a secret for as long as possible
11:21
but it's been very difficult for me. I'm very excited about it
11:25
it personally and you guys like the gardening in Canada community are the people to launch this you guys are
11:35
are the first plant users to help design this entire app entire sensor like all that sort of stuff
11:42
and what we put into the app the sensors we decided on isn't based on what we think you need it's
11:49
literally based off your comments I went through the comment section and I looked at what you guys
11:55
have issues with, what your pain points are, and that's what completely formatted the entire thing
12:01
So you've been along for this ride for a year now. You just didn't know it
12:06
I'm just finally bringing you in and letting you know that you are a part of the ride
12:11
And I encourage you to sign up for the newsletter that we have, and we aren't going to spam you
12:20
by any means, but we will let you know when the sensors are ready and when the app is ready
12:25
keep in mind this is our first run at these so like we have prototypes and stuff it's not like our first
12:34
that like it's our first retail batch that we're actually selling and putting out into the
12:41
the universe and we only have 400-ish of them so we don't have a lot which I feel bad about
12:51
but there will be more coming it's just this first round we only have 400
12:55
because that's all we can basically get together type things. So please jump on board
13:03
Make sure you sign up for that newsletter so you can get first dibs on those sensors when
13:07
they do come out. I don't think they're going to last long
13:11
If I look at, you know, when I release a new planner and stuff, I'm well over 400
13:17
sold type things. So they not going to stick around long So make sure you jump on that bandwagon And like I said jump on the different poles and things that we doing But nonetheless let get into actually repotting this plant
13:32
So this is one of many plants I need to repot. And you can see he's huge
13:40
His pot is small. And I'm having a really hard time keeping up with watering him
13:44
So some of the things you'll notice. And this is maybe where the plant sensor will tell me too, because it's going to send me an alert
13:49
and it's going to tell me to get off my butt and go water my plant before I end up with too many of
13:55
these laying around. So, and that's actually another cool thing. It'll tell you to adjust stuff
14:02
or if something's like in an emergency state versus not in extension or it's like a learning app
14:09
sensor. It's not there just to talk at you and tell you what's what. They're to actually like
14:16
help you learn. There's no such thing as a watering schedule. with this app it's accurately going to tell you when to water based on the
14:25
consumption your plant has and sole type whatever else but nonetheless so this
14:32
guy needs to be repotted I'm putting him into this one here which is kind of
14:38
like a self-watering it has a false bottom so it is a water reservoir where everything's
14:44
going to hang out in and I'm not pull this guy out
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and what am I going to do with all this extra soil on top
14:53
I want to clean off the soil around the roots. He doesn't have much for a root ball
14:59
but he does have half of that landed on the ground. So he doesn't have much for a root ball
15:05
shockingly, considering how much he was using, not much root for the plant
15:13
But I'm going to try to untangle this, just so I can put fresh soil
15:19
And in and around the actual roots themselves, things like phosphate and potassium isn't particularly mobile in soil
15:32
So having it root place is a big deal. Nitrogen you can top dress with and it's highly mobile
15:40
It's leachable, meaning it's going to rip through your system. No problem
15:44
And it's going to cause your plant to grow and be happy and healthy. so that's definitely something you want to keep in mind but when it comes to a lot of
15:55
micronutrients phosphate potassium that sort of thing that all needs to be root-placed the
16:02
other ingredient in my soil mix that needs to be replaced is actually the frass or the
16:07
vermacast in order for it to do the job it needs to do of causing that autoimmune
16:14
reaction or that immune response it has to be in and around the roots as much as possible
16:20
So I clean that bad boy off. Dangly dangly here. I'm just going to loosen this up here
16:30
Just a tad. He hasn't been repotted in a hot minute, if we're being totally honest
16:39
But I'm still growing. Okay, so when I put in, I want to gauge how deep
16:46
So I want my crown to still be my crown because I don't want to put too much stress on the stems to force them to make those advantageous aerial roots
17:02
I guess they wouldn't even be aerial at this point. They would, well, technically they would be. But they'd be advantageous roots is what we'd
17:12
Adventitious, fibrous roots. So I'm going to bocashi compost, or trench compost, these ugly stems
17:25
Okay, so I need to fill up probably half this container with soil before I go ahead and actually repot
17:35
So you guys have to let me know the comments down below. If you're excited for the plant sensor or not, I know I am
17:44
But it's also a very nerdy plant sensor. So I feel like that's part of the reason why I'm so scared
17:51
For being totally honest. It's not, uh, it's for the serious plant folk
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or just the people who, quite honestly, don't have the time to always spend with their plants
18:06
which is me. I'm very busy. I enjoy my plants, don't get me wrong, but there's plants in my collection
18:11
where I'm kind of like, just grow down it. I don't want to take care of you
18:15
If you get bugs, you're going to the garbage. S-O-L. Okay. So I'm going to place this guy in
18:22
He's about halfway full. What I did just there, I guess I should explain myself
18:28
I pushed down on my potting cell, and I really like to try to compact it a little bit
18:35
Now, this is maybe a bad habit for me. And not bad in the sense, like, you shouldn't do it
18:42
but that in the sense that um i do this quite often for my outdoor plants and for something like
18:52
this there if it had more aerial roots and it was from a cutting rather than from a seed per se you aren't going to
19:04
padding it down is not going to make a difference however um this one does have like legitimate uh
19:12
fibrous roots. So I have like my tap root type system and then I have this really nice fibrous side
19:20
And so when I pack it down, I don't have airspace. And when I don't have airspace, I will not burn
19:27
off these really delicate root hairs because these root hairs are so tiny and fibrous
19:35
Once they're exposed to too much air, they triple up and they disappear. The problem with that
19:42
is that these root hairs are very integral to nutrient capture, anchoring of the plant
19:50
and water capture as well. And so the more little tiny tentacles you have on your plant
19:56
the better your plant is at nutrient capture and that sort of thing. So in order to reduce the
20:02
chances of essentially evaporating or dehydrating these little tiny root hairs I like to pack in my soil pretty firmly now this guy used to very clearly be Grown in a sphagnum moss and you can see where the sphagnum moss is compared to this upper portion here
20:22
You'll bring it a bit closer you can see I've got lots of fibrous root activity where I put the potting soil where I topped up this pot initially upon getting it because I did put in a larger pot and
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and I just dumped it in the larger pot. I filled in the size and I filled up the top
20:39
because I didn't wanna stress the plant out. So you see this more fibrous kind of root activity
20:45
This is because I pack my soil in. So I'm really limiting the oxygen space
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So I'm limiting the chances of air exposure and essentially kind of this drying out
20:57
of these really tiny delicate hairs. But if you look at the bottom here
21:03
where a lot of this, bulk was planted up in straight sphaggedum moss and also where it was on the bottom of the pot which
21:12
has a hole in the bottom again letting a lot of air through we can see kind of bald spots so we can see
21:18
these areas where clearly there was lots of moisture and this would have been the one that was around
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the outside of the dish we can see these root hairs but then we can see these kind of balding areas
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where there is no root hairs and it's just this kind of stick like root and so the
21:35
the stick-like root foreign because it likely was, hypothetically, was exposed to more oxygen
21:43
or more porous space just in general. So I like to aim for more fiber roots rather than these
21:54
kind of stringy looking ones just because it can aid in nutrient capture. Now, there's
22:00
nothing wrong with having just these types of roots. You just may expect lower usage of water
22:09
lower usage of nutrients, and ultimately maybe a smaller plant. But again, this is very hypothetical
22:15
There's no like studies to say what I'm doing is right or wrong, but from what I've observed of
22:24
house plants over the past 15 years that I've had them is exactly
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this and so just to kind of drive this point home you can see on the front of this plant
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this quorum again this was all area that was exposed to oh this might this might be it
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this might be the perfect one oh no it goes right back in so this one here again exposed to the
22:47
surface of the soil because my soil was in and around here and just through um compaction
22:52
watering action it kind of washed down so it was sitting about here but you can see
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the stuff exposed to air, it kind of looks like a noodle. And then once we get into the actual
23:03
soil medium, we get the hairs again. So that's what I'm eating for. That's why I'm packing down
23:10
You will not see, you'll see some hairs. Don't get me wrong, wherever they can survive
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they're going to hang out in. With any sort of wood chip or airy type chunky, I guess
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pawning soul mix you're going to see that no problem but like I said don't come after me
23:30
there's nothing to say that what I just said is actually scientifically proven because you
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have to remember a lot of these plant studies are based on crops like food feeding type plants
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they're not based on this poor butterfly singonium that doesn't deserve our attention
23:54
So yeah, then I'm literally going to fill in around. I'm going to hold prop up the plant a little bit or as much as possible
24:03
And then after I'm done this, I'm going to water him in with some nice loop warm water
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I know that sounds weird, but I do like to just get the moisture or the heat up a little bit right off the bat
24:17
That is again, maybe a bit of my superstition. there's a few reasons why I do that
24:26
First one being that I personally believe that plants do get shock from cooler waters
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and there is studies to confirm that you should never water with incredibly cool or cold waters
24:42
And the other reason for it is because it kind of gets things blended a bit better, I find
24:50
between the vermicast and the regular compost and all that sort of stuff
24:54
It blends it together a little bit. And then I get a little bit of a microbe spike too because they're happy and healthy and warm and cozy
25:03
But that micro part is just complete nonsense gibberish coming out of my mouth
25:11
So like I said, no signs to back that baby up. Just the way I vibe
25:17
Okay. so again I'm gonna push down someone's watching this so like no don't do it and then I do
25:28
like to leave a tiny little lip around the edge because when I water I like to just water
25:33
to the edge and then walk away I don't want to sit there and watch it go down and then rewater
25:38
I just want one and done tight thing and then yeah there you go that's my pawning soil
25:43
slash plant mixture. Old potting soil went back into the bucket, but that's because I know there's no pest or disease with this plant
25:53
If there was pest or disease, I would vermicast composted. I would not sterilize it
25:59
Do not sterilize your potting soil. It is just about as useless as if it had a fungi issue in it
26:06
Just feed it to the worms. Feed it to the worms. And I think worm composting is probably one of the best composting methods
26:13
for those of you out there that are house plant people. So I don't think you guys so much for watching
26:20
If you enjoyed the video, be sure to give it a thumbs up. Hit that subscribe button and sprint to the comment section
26:26
and sign up for that newsletter. So you guys can be informed of when we need your opinions
26:31
what kind of opinions we need, the name you have for the dude. Comments is at the censor
26:37
We call it a dude. It's a horrible name. But just comment down below
26:41
Comment down below what you would name said censor if you had a choice and if we like it we'll choose it and like i said sign it for the
26:50
newsletter so you get all the updates i'll talk to you guys next time bye
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