This is a great video - finally someone who isn’t like “15.22% bark” “20.9% magic” “10.16% soil” “44.87% perlite” “3.5 sprinkles of sphagnum moss” 😂 those hyper-specific mixes drive me crazy!
Haha I’m definitely not about that life. I applause people who are passionate enough and have the time to do that, but I do wish they would do more educating on the general principles behind why, as well as letting others know that simplistic mixes can also work well for lots of people.
Yes, and these materials are easy to get, too. By the way, if perlite is not available at local nurseries, you can find it at hydroponic supplies shops.
Oh you hit it on the head - people make soil mixes more complicated than it should be! Thank you for calling this out and challenging all to keep it simple!
I was so overwhelmed by finding the right mix that I found a seller selling a aroid mix and I bought a ton. I totally get your point and I wish I would have watched this first. I know I could create my own mixture now. Thanks
I feel like most of your videos are more theoretical instead of visual. It'd be nice to see a video of you making the mixture and talking about what purpose each item serves , also where you source the item. It'd be nice to also watch you cut and pot up a albo cutting
I love common sense videos. I overthink everything and I drive myself crazy! I have so many containers of different leftover mixes and no clue what I used it for. I want to throw it all out and just start more simplified. I think I’m just gonna sift out all of the chunks of stuff and add it to coco coir and adjust as needed. Thanks for the video.
I love the analogy of intuitive cooking with family matriarchs! I work in the food industry and actually apply this concept to plant care a lot. I’m pretty surprised how much. But, it’s true. I don’t always have everything I need when I’m mixing soil, it’s pretty easy to just grab something that will work similarly. It’s kind of amazing to see how different my soil is from plant to plant because of this actually…but, at the end of the day, it works.
Thanks for making me feel better about my soil mixes for my Alocasia and monsteras. I was worried that I wasn’t making the “right” choice for the soil with the supplies I have... but I have everything that you use in your video! Also thanks for saying that you keep your monstera deliciosa on the drier side! I have 4 very small rooted cuttings I have in soil with chunky bark and I was worried it was getting too dry. But it’s growing a new leaf so I think it’s happy!
Totally agree. Just mixed my own soil from watching a bunch of different videos. Got the idea of what type of soil is needed and grabbed a bag of orchid mix, perlite, potting soil(peat/perlite) and some charcoal. Honestly you just need to look at it and you can tell whether or not it’s going to be good or not. You have hit the nail on the head on knowing the ‘profile’
So many channels have had me terrified to use potting mix as part of it to the point I haven’t repotted my Thai con yet. I read on one website that cactus mix works well too. Just terrified of it getting root rot!
Thank you for this video. I have been trying to find what soil mix i need to go with for my monstera and there are so many different options and opinions out there. Thanks to you I no longer feel intimidated!
I completely agree! I get so stressed over my soils it's unreal! I watch different videos and one I just watched earlier called for 5 different types of soils for the Monstera, and I just can't afford all the fancy soils they recommend buying! I just purchased a Monstera today, actually! My very 1st one! And I've wanted one for awhile now! I'm so excited and want it grow well and be happy in its substrate! I started getting into plants about 2 yrs. ago and I need all the advice I can get but watching all these different people and nobody's advice on the soil is the same! And it really stresses me out when i know it shouldn'ti just want my plants to be happy especiallymy new addition! I'm so glad I ran across your channel today. You made it so much easier! Thank you! Btw the 1st monstera at the beginning of the video the white and green is absolutely gorgeous!! I love it! I wish I could find one! Any suggestions as to where I could get one? Again thank you for making this video it really helped me! 😊
Thank you, your very simple, I’ve watched many and by the time if I got all the different things to mix I’d have spent 50 to 70$$$ just for the mixing. Then I found u. I just got a 3 leaf albo monstera borsigiana a bit of a rehab only because they cut it about 2inches from the node, she dropped the price to 125.00 $$ . It rooted in 2 different spots so really 2 different plants. The main node is very nicely verigated, I’m just feeling fortunate and happy
You’re the only one that I’ve come across who explains the theory behind “why” certain things are done! I appreciate it so much, not knowing “why” and just replicating someone else’s methods/recipe stress me out so much lol. Thank you for explaining it so thoroughly! 🙏!!
Thank you so much for your simple guide about soil. I'm new to the plant 🍃 world and I was so surprised how complicated it was, I watch so many videos and honestly I was shocked at how confusing all the information was.
Thnx it was super complicated until you applied the “cooking” profile aspect. I’ve watched others and my head stays spinning lol newbie trying to learn but master in the kitchen means I may now understand. Using what I have just need maybe a couple bags vs everything I thought I needed! Yay!
Excellent rules to go by. I grow all my plants in 1/3 ratio of pine bark fines, sphagnum moss and Black Kow, if I’m doing succulents I’ll get rid of the moss and add larger amount of sand. Never failed me in 30 years. I’ve never used pearlite, it doesn’t look natural to me.
thank you for your video - exactly what I'm looking for... I have 3 baby monsteras I propagated from seeds and they're not growing as fast as they should - now I know why, thanks to you. I will repot them and change my potting mix. Make the soil "airy & well draining."
Btw, I am a 10-ingredient guy! It's totally true it's not necessary to have good plants, but if you have the room, more ingredients don't cost any more but can bring real advantages. Here's an example: For your perlite drainage component, if you cut it in half with pumice, you vastly reduce the annoying floating of the perlite that happens as the pot ages, plus you cut your risk of fluoride toxicity in half, plus you get a whole new set of elemental micronutrients when you increase the different types of ingredients. More ingredient diversity is better & safer (but of course not necessary). Another example: If one of your components is coir or peat, you get real advantages by cutting them in half with each other. A little peat helps bring down the pH to where you want it plus it hold more air for a given volume of water-holding capacity than any other ingredient on the planet; and that lower pH allows you to add calcium type ingredients like ground oyster shell (calcium is hard to get enough in standard fertilizers). But now cutting the peat in half with coir prevents the pH from going too low, and adds additional micronutrient diversity. Additionally, by not going with all coir, you cut your risk of coir potassium toxicity and cal/mag deficiency (which are real concerns in average soilless mixes) in half. So if you have the room, there are many more real advantages to lots of ingredients! :)
I gather “formulas” and tweak them to me and my plants. I tend to be heavily handed when I water. Also it depends on the amount of light and the pot my plant is in. Sometimes I don’t even potting soil. I use worm compost. When I ran out of perlite or pumice, I use chicken grit. Some of the grit had oyster shell so my plants get the benefits of airy soil & calcium. You mentioned recipes, recipes always say, salt to taste!
Oh I haven't heard of anyone using chicken grit before! It's always interesting what people use and it's good for people to know that a lot of things can be used as long as the basic fundamentals are applied. Cheers!
As a new plant parent, this is very refreshing to watch because I have been stressing over houseplant soil. Some people have told me that I need to add up to about 6 or 7 different ingredients to my soil! It’s expensive and worrisome to try to keep up with all of that! “Airy and Well-draining” is the only thing I care about now since I do tend to be a heavy-handed water, and have lost several plants to root rot. Thank you for sharing this information!🪴❤️
That explanation with the profiles was amazing, it can even be called a bit philosophical, because everytime a grower is confronted with a new species, he is unconsciously looking for that profile himself.
I was searching soil mixture composition for monestra and meanwhile i came across to your channel . Thanks for making it simple . Everytime when i m repotting the plant from nursery i used to wonder if my soil mixture is appropriate . 😊
Thank you for an informative and easy-to-watch video. Many of your mixes look a lot like some of mine which are mostly in terracotta pots, as well. I use a lot of pumice and orchid bark, and cocoa coir. And I make sure to wear a mask whenever I’m working with perlite. That dust is too much! 😅
Oh!🤦🏽♀️ I have so much potting soil…different brands🤦🏽♀️ You’ve taught me something so important for me! My Monsteras look so SAD! My 100% potting soil is too heavy🤦🏽♀️Now I get it🙋🏽♀️THANK YOU!YOU SO MUCH!
I was looking how to mix soil for my aroids and originally planned to watch a lot videos but after this one I feel that I don't need to watch any other video, thanks man
I ve seen lots of thai nurseries, they mainly use coconut husks, perlite, a bit of slow release cosmocote and s bit of strakle g which is fungicide. Their plants re growing crazy.
I go around gathering leaf mulch and flowers. Cold compost for beneficial fungi and bacteria . Use that with bark, coco-coir and perlite. Big on worm castings also. Love your content. 👍
Yay! I'm sure they do great! Ep 13 is a variegated monstera care guide if you want to see more about what I do for mine. Definitely reach out if issues. Cheers!
Thank you so much, this is exactly what I needed. I was getting overwhelmed looking at how much I had to spend in order to keep my plants happy. You kept it simple and straightforward. Can’t wait to check out more videos!
Your channel is so informative. I’ve been researching soil for philodendrons and monsteras for weeks and stumbled onto your channel. No website or YT channels give such detailed info on soil mixtures as you have. Thanks a bunch!!
I used to repot with just potting soil mix and when I would water the plants the water would sit and pool, ,it would struggle to drain . Adding Peat moss helped alot with that.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment friend! Yeah I think that multi-ingredient mixes allow more tailoring, and probably allow growers to get closer to the “optimal” substrate conditions. That said, a “very good” substrate can be made with very few ingredients and that’s really the point I wanted to make, especially for people coming into this hobby. It’s great that you were able to experiment and come up with your optimal mixes. The recipes with 10 ingredients with exact measurements claiming to work for everyone is intimidating to new growers and makes me roll my eyes. Cheers friend and thank you for your viewership!!
I am in Manitoba, where the air is clean and the mosquitoes come with saddles, but we can have pretty good humidity in the summer, winter is a different story. However I have been using mixes of about 6 parts after listening to all the advice out there as I am new to the wonderful world of tropical plants. I like your approach and just like that the plants still grow, good for you, just a basic advice and the plants just grow anyhow. As it is all a giant science project I guess we have to find out what works best for our plants in our homes.
True, it just need to be porous enough and stay moist. My simplest media is: 50 burnt rice husk + 50 3-6mm lava rock, I used it for every single plant except for succulents and carnivorous plants and it works. If you use it on water loving plant like peppermint, just water twice a day, for aroids, could be every 3 days to a week, the best part is you don't have to worry it's going to get soggy because it's will pass water very quickly and just stay moist, worry free even under heavy downpour.
You're right about the soil. Some you need the right profile. Some just good soil. I grew my Aunt's Mass Cane (after she passed) for 20 something years. At least the first 10 was just garden soil that she had put the plant in. My Monstera does indeed have a mixture of mostly orchid/mixed with soil.
I am using a mix of 1/3 orchid bark and 2/3 coco-perlite soi. The bark reduces compaction. One has to find what suits his/her ideal mix for the climate and type of plants
Thank you for this nice video! I like it more simple too. 😊 I bought my monstera deliciosa in potting soil and repotted it in such 🙈 But I would like to change that the next time I repot. Would you remove all the potting soil between the roots? Or ist that a shock for the plants (two plants in one pot)? Greetings from Germany 😊
My soil mix for my aroids also vary from pot to pot also. I'm glad I'm not the only one! I pretty much use a mix of cactus mix/orchid bark/perlite as the base. Everything else depends on my mood. If I'm feeling fancy I'll add lava rock because it's pretty. 😂 I often tell people I'm very heavy handed with watering and love to water my plants so I like to make them extra chunky.
Lava rock! You fancy pants =P Yeah, I would say a lot of aroid people are heavy on the water. I mean if you own a $2 cactus, it's easy to leave it in a corner and forget about it. Not many of us can buy a $100+ plant and forget about that; so we tend to over-love and over-water haha.
@@LegendsOfMonstera It's my special occasion soil amendment. I only have lava rock because the nursery lady saw me oohing at the colour and the next thing I knew I was paying for a bag of pretty red rocks. 😆
Great video, really love the comparison with our elders' cooking ''recipe''! I've also been using that approximate mix for my mature plants. Now I have a few aroids cuttings that I'm trying to root in the same mix, but it's my first time using this mix as a propagation medium. I think it's airy, so it should have enough space for the roots to grow, while preventing root rot, but I'm also anxious about the medium being too dry for root growth. I put all my cuttings in a DIY greenhouse to keep a high humidity level. I've seen you are rooting your monsteras in sphagnum moss, but still wanted your thoughts on that :) Realllyyy hope it will work out, since I have a monstera peru and treubii cuttings in there. Thank you!
I am repotting my monstera as listening to this. The one in my room I repotted in bonsai soil and sphagnum moss as it was near drowning being kept at humidity levels of 70-80%. The one in the living room which is in an east west window is potted in bonsai soil+indoor plant soil+ sphagnum moss. Wish me luck people. I dont have tons of money to spend on soil. Its soil... do ur job soil. My philosophy is simple... if a plant is meant to survive me then it will.
I was just saying my soil is a gumbo mix and i do the same whatever i have laying around just like i do when im cooking and your rite as long as its airy thats all that matters there is no perfect recipe i learned thanks for sharing ❤
I love this so much!! I grow a lot of anthuriums and orchids and I always just kind of macgyvered it with what I had on hand and they do fine. I try to keep it as airy as possible with a humidifier nearby but I just got a monstera and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t kill it. Glad I came across your video I feel much more confident it will be ok now. Haha!
Great points! I recently repotted my sister's monstera deliciosa. I was flabbergasted that I somehow had never noticed it for years (in a corner I rarely go to) and that it survived and matured considering she tends to forget to water her plants! Then I saw that a few aerial roots dug into the lawn near where the rain gutter drains, lol. Anyway, to the fresh potting soil that already had a little bit of perlite, I had added a lot of orchid bark plus some coco coir. I also decided to try some vermiculite, which I normally don't use, but again because of my sister's watering habits, I figure it could probably benefit from moisture retention considering there are other things to aerate the soil. I'll be monitoring to see how it works out...
Thanks for the comment! I always err on the side of too dry and too well draining than otherwise. Much easier for me to water more than deal with root rot. Cheers!
Just use 100% coco coir and forget the hassle. Coco has amazing water retention and still holds almost 30% air even when fully saturated. You could literally water it every day without fear of overwatering.
The coco coir soil being sold here (Edmonton, Canada) are very fine. This will kill even my hardier plants. The fibrous coco husk might be okay but I don't think I've seen them being sold in any store here. I think coco chips by itself would be perfect but it's hard to find here.
@@rubyrose49 coco coir stays FAR TOO MOIST for these types of plants. It will eventually kill them. I promise. Dont listen to anyone who says to use it with these tropical plants
Hi! Doc thanks for sharing this such informative I learn from this video I like how the mixture of your plant looks chunky and just to feel it looking so airy. I pretty much use the orchids bark s in my mixture I just need to lessen a little bit of potting soil. Thanks for this .
I recently bought an albo cutting and was JUST wondering what soil they prefer and then BOOM! here you are haha thanks for the info 🙌🏽 this makes me feel so much better
My monstera deliciosa isn’t very happy and I think it’s soil mixture is not aerated enough. I am Looking forward to making a better mix for it as the one I have doesn’t dry out fast enough. Thanks for this tutorial. I feel more confident now
Hello! I am in Iwakuni japan and due to the language barrier I couldn't find bark or perlite and the gentleman at nafco just gave me a bag of soil but it's not chunky, I am wondering if I just use that soil without anything chunky if my plants will have a chance surviving. Thank you
Listened/watched this video again after potting up my new Albo cuttings. Though everyone seemed to prefer water propagation, I decided to go with the soil route, using mainly an orchid bark/perlite/charcoal mix with potting soil sprinkled on top and then watered in. The growing environment sounds similar to a phalaenopsis in which they like their roots on the drier side, using an airy mix. I hope my thinking is correct. Wish me luck and keep up the great videos!
I just don’t use perlite because it’s not grown that way in nature. Peat mix, large bark and Garden soil mixed have kept me from watering for more than two months growing deliciosa from the nursery.
Do you ever add worm casings into the mix? How often are you feeding them? My home tends to be very dry, and I tend to forget to water. Would you recommend adding some peat or coir to the mix to help with moisture retention?
If you need help with moisture retention, you can just use a higher percentage of soil. The more soil in the mix, the more it holds onto water. You can also use non-terra cotta pots which will retain water for longer.
I love how you compare the soil to flavor profiles in cooking ! This is so accurate. And it’s so important to take into consideration your environment and watering habits ! 👍🏻great video ! I have been very curious if soil mix PH level affects plants - do you have any opinions on that?
Sometimes it is a little more complicated because different plants have different needs. They each may require more or less nutrients than the other. This is why I mix up my own special blend which has been the best potting mix I’ve used. My plants are healthier. And it is because I’ve used certain ingredients for certain plants. My mix is super light and airy and I can adjust the fertilizer I amend it with according to the plant I’m potting. Some plants like a little bark while others don’t like being that dry. When your plant gets visibly dry like that it is time for watering.
So many people online recommend putting orchid bark in their mixes but it is not readily available locally and expensive online. I am trying to not go out of my way to take care of my plants (I have a tendency to try and source only the best things and it is not compatible with my wallet). Thanks for breaking it down. I try to think about "what would my mom do" because she grows plants just fine and I KNOW she's not spending $60 to get orchid bark delivered to her door. 😂
I always mix medium according to the plant & the type of pot I’m putting it in😊 but the ingredients I always keep on hand is something moisture retaining (peat, coir, or sphagnum), something inert (perlite, pumice, vermiculite, shale), something chunky (orchid bark), & something to strengthen roots or prevent root diseases (chunky charcoal & bio-tone (beneficial bacteria)).
Haha, my tool box is getting out of hand 😅 but yes! Bonsai mix is basically a bag of rocks, but I find that that airiness greatly reduces my chances of root rot.
You have beautiful teeth & smile! Love the insight in the video, I’m heavy handed on the potting soil, will use more bark and lighter ingredients. It doesn’t fit in my decor either, 😂
I bought a baby monstera and found some small insects in the soil. My plant is only about 3wks old but i'm itching to repot it and get rid of all the old soil. You think that's a smart idea? Or should I wait a little longer?
I agree, most of the plants we're gonna have as houseplants are not gonna need a complicated potting mix. There are some rarer, hard to grow things that have a Lot of Needs, but that's not gonna matter to most hobbyists
I find most aroids require simple compositions, except for the really really finicky ones. Var adansonii and obliqua come to mind as two needing significant requirements, as do most terrarium aroids I'm sure.
You didn't really talk about what the mixture is. Specially for the Peru, you just said pretty chunky, some dirt.. but I'd like to know what is the mix.
