In 2023 and I’m here to say that this is the BEST soil mix I’ve ever had!!! I’ve used this method for 2 years and people are always amazed at how much harvest I always end up with! I’ve grown okras, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants in this soil and my harvest has always been bountiful!!!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Oh gosh that's so good to hear. I'm a new Gardner and I'm SO overwhelmed by how many different soils we are told we need.. One for this plant, another for that plant etc etc. And it adds up! I live on 12 acres with mostly pine trees so hoping my "crappy backyard soil" will work as in thinking it is likely somewhat acidic..
c, try this. For all fruiting vegetables - peppers, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, etc. use Espoma TomatoTone. For non-fruiting vegetables use Espoma PlantTone. For flowers use Jack's Blossom Booster and for berries, particularly blueberries use Espoma BerryTone.
I’ve been using this exact formula given to me by a man who grew roses for 40 years. My gardens and container plants have all done well for 20 years running. I just pulled up my 6 dahlias which lived in this formula for 7 years. I split them and have close to 100 now! Thank you for your time and information!
I do container gardening up north in zone 5A and make my own homemade potting mix. I start by using clay dug from my backyard I let it dry in the sun on my driveway then I crush it into a fine powder then sweep it up and collect it. I used to use the topsoil as part of my base ingredients instead of clay, but I've found that the clay has way more minerals than the native topsoil in my backyard. Basically I mix the clay, coarse garden perlite, compost, worm castings, coconut coir , plus inoculants and amendments together by hand. Per XL 10 cubic foot giant wheelbarrow (1 batch): 5 gallons coconut coir 5 gallons of crushed powdered clay 5 gallons of locally-sourced earth worm castings 5 gallons of my homemade super compost (fortified with rock dust and charcoal) 5 gallons of coarse garden perlite This is the bulk of my soil base mix. Then I add these inoculants and amendments to the base mix listed above. (1)Bat Guano (2)Bone meal (3) blood meal (4) rice hauls (5) alfalfa meal (6) kelp meal (7) seaweed meal (8) aged chicken manure (9) green sand "mineral deposits from the ocean floor" (10) feather meal (11) mycorrhiza "a type of fungus" (12) microorganism mix "multiple different types of microorganism bacteria" (13) neem cake meal (14) red wiggler worms about one dozen per flower pot depending on the pot size If you could see through my soil would look like a tangled web of millions of white spider webs in the soil mixture, this is also known as Santa's Beard, it's a good thing 👍. This is the holy grail of the home gardener, it's known as "soil hyphae" a type of mycorrhiza fungus network that has a beneficial symbiotic relationship with the vegetable plant roots. If you're able to achieve this hyphae network magical things happen like absolute ridiculous yields from one plant, it's truly insane 😳👍. I basically make a living soil and let the soil feed the plants (happy soil microbes happy plants)🤷. The only time i actually feed the plants is maybe for the first 5 weeks. I might occasionally mix some fish emulsion with water depending on the current growth rate. Basically if you build your soil properly in the beginning, there's really no reason to feed your plants in my very short grow season 🤷. Happy gardening all hope this helps someone ✌️.
Just found your site. I've now seen a couple of your videos. Made me smile. Reminds me of home. Lots of good advice, no nonsense and some passion. You could be one of my neighbors as I was growing up who just knows everything and doesn't mind sharing. Thank you. Looks like today my wife and I will be making some potting soil!
I am a first time gardener and purchased top soil, peat moss and compost from Home Depot today. I was told nothing will survive in that mix. I was told to use potting mix instead. I lied and told them it was my grandmother's recipe that worked well for her and is a recipe that I trust. I purchased it all and cannot wait to start planting!!! :)
WOW!! Susie. It is so discouraging to hear that a decent company like Home DePot does not better train their sales staff. We have done more than 5,000 plantings and they have survived. I wish you much luck with your gardening and I hope that you will continue to garden for the rest of your life.
@@paulajohnson1096 The mix worked for me and I was able to grow many vegetables. I was complimented on how great my plants were growing and producing. I was very happy with the outcome.
@@freedomlife2468 thank you for letting me know. So glad to hear that it worked out for you. Going to be planting some strawberries Soon and I've decided to try out this mix. I'm new to gardening so hope everything works out. Bagged soil is so expensive in the stores and with this mix I can save a little bit of money while trying to learn how to grow some berries for my family. Thanks again for getting back to me.
Just a newbie gardener here, but I truly appreciate your straightforward, no nonsense approach on this subject. We've been struggling trying to get just the right combination of growing medium for our fabric grow bags. Our 1st attempt at mixing produced a medium that drains almost immediately, doing our cucumbers no good at all. I'm gonna try this mix but will have to use "top soil" from home depot cause our native soil is solid clay!!! Thanks!
It's always great when I get to learn from a experienced professional who has managed success throughout there years and not just a hack from someone who just wants to pump out a video for mainly profit.
I'm so excited to find your video. I honestly feel we are conned into believing we need to buy a bunch of expensive things in order to garden and it makes many people decide not to go forward. I'm going to try your mix and have been gathering "crummy backyard soil" from around our property. We live in property with pine trees so will be interested to see if our soil works well.
Yeah, I've got plenty of experience gardening and have made my own "soilless mixes" using bricks of sphagnum peat, coir, horticultural sand, bark fines, pumice and perlite. With the price of peat and coir getting asinine, even in brick form, I'm going to give this method a shot. I might cut back on the backyard soil to 30 percent and use the big box "topsoil" for the other 30 percent of the 60 percent soil portion. Maybe throw in some graded pumice for drainage. I've got a huge compost pile going and that pretty much consists of free material or matter I would have thrown out anyway. Tough times makes tough people (and smarter too).
OH Thank you!! You made it so simple and clear. Other videos either don't measure or just keep adding bits of this and bits of that. Your video is perfect in every way!! NOW I have something to get started with. Thanks again. ;-) (Oh, P.S.... the only thing I didn't hear is the size of the container you were filling.)
Red Coffee, You are welcome! Thank you for the kind comment and for taking your time to view our Harvesting History video. Please visit our website at www.harvesting-history.com/
I don't think the size matters so much as the ratio. I assume she ended up with about 2 gallons of soil if each small plastic container she added was 1 quart. 8 quarts is 2 gallons (I think...) But you could have a half gallon cup filled the same number of times from each bucket and end up with 4 gallons of finished soil. Does that make sense? Just use any size pot you need and stick to that ratio.
I just love you, Barb. You get straight to the point. I have never grown a vegetable before, but currently have tomatoes, peppers, onions and basil started indoors! I am planning to sow carrots, beans and lettuce outside when the weather is appropriate. Thank you for your expertise and information!
Small Sprouts, I wish you much success and strongly encourage you to keep gardening. Few activities are better for your mind and body and soul than gardening.
I've seen tons of RU-vid videos about composting, seed starting, self watering, etc etc. This video is SUPER SIMPLE & cost effective. Thank you for taking the Mystery out of Step #1. Prepare the SOIL ❤
You are the only youtube channel that has really helped with my container soil. I am needing advice and help growing roses in containers. David Austin Roses recommends 50% potting compost (potting soil) and 50% John Inness #3 which is 70% loamy soil, 10% sand, 10% granite chips and something else. The only other rose breeder & Royal Rosarian & show winner to recommend dirt/soil in containers for roses recommends 30% dirt/soil and 70% potting soil & compost mix. Which one should I use? How is growing a shrub (rose) in a pot different than bulbs or veggies? Could you make a video? Also can you put bulbs in the pot with the rose?
I finally shook the hook from my lip & I'm doing this for the first time this year! Thank you for your research and for sharing your knowledge! I can't wait to check out your web page too!
Great video, I grow about 75 roses in containers and need to repot them up…am going to follow this with maybe some alfalfa meal thrown in. I am saving this video! I also loved your succinct style of explaining! Thank you!🥰🌸
Holly, Thank you for your comment and compliment. Would you please let me know how the soil mixture does with your roses. I think your idea of adding alfalfa meal is great. The nitrogen fixing ability of alfalfa should really enhance the leaf and stem health of your roses. Once again, thank you.
@@BarbaraMeleraHi again Barbara, all the top soils at my garden centers have sand in them, I am in south central Texas and I don’t need sand in my potting rose soil. At least I don’t think so…I found one soil from Ace that is a little more expensive but it has the following ingredients; composted materials, sphagnum peat moss, wetting agent and added nutrients (I.e. slow release fertilizer at a ratio of .o7, .01, .03) My question is, if I use this, I am thinking I would just need to mix in the two parts compost…I did buy a bag and I liked how it looked and smelled. Not too heavy but still had good substance. What are your thoughts, would you still add the moss and the compost? Thank you! Holly P.s. it the Ace all purpose garden soil in case you wanted to know….thanks again!🌸
I love the fact that you say that you have experienced with soils and figure out what work. your video is awesome. Do you by any chance have a recommendation on wicking soils mix? Thank you!
This is my1st time using this soil mix. I have been looking for soil mix that is much cheaper. Im excited. I hope my babies grow better this way. I just transpanted my greens, tomatoes and peppers today.
Do you have any advice for how long this mix can be used (growing vegetables) before it needs to be refreshed with new nutrients? And what would I add when the time comes?
In our experience we lose between 10%-20% of the soil in a container each year. For the first 3 years we replace the lost soil with compost or composted manure. In the fourth and fifth year we replace with topsoil. Then we repeat the process in the subsequent years - 3 years compost, then 2 years soil.
Great tutorial. In UK we can't get peat anymore, it has been made illegal to use peat, so now the bought compost is utter rubbish and the greenhouse plants struggle. Was going to mix it with some sterilized topsoil.
Thankyou for your knowledge. Its truly priceless. To finally have a go to soil mix Thankyou ❤ my potted leaf babys are going to be happy i just know it. I know a lot about plants everything from 🪱 composting is the best manure. Fish and Seaweed. liquid kelp , to name a little. I have airplants , dwarf shrubs Asian and U.S Varieties. .to red hot pocker plants to Tulips. ground covers to apple and Asian pear trees. I also have chickens hens only 😂 and ducks. Best wishes from wa state agian thankyou ❤
years back my friend has R.Arthritus on a 16×12 I turned everything twice . added top soil, peat moss, manure, pottin mix. turned it all in and the best tasting tomatoes, had the perfect salt
I never grow anything in my life. But this year, at the age of 78 years old, I purchased two( 2' x 8') up to my waist high of planter boxes. Istarted my purple sweet potatoes gardening in container wishing to eat their leaves & tubers for its high nutrient value. I searched on tu tube every day hoping to gain some knowledge about growing purple sweet potatoes. After about 5 months of searching, I only found your website yesterday. Your soil mix is very simple. Since I already planted my slips this year, so it is too late to use your mix recipe this year. I decided to use your soil mix recipe from next year on. Now I need to know do I have to use any kind of fertilizer during those 5 months growing period. What kind & how often to use? Would you kindly reply my question? Tks in advance.
Other recipes I have researched indicate compost, perlite, and coco Pete - how is this different? Which is better for container gardening? Thanks a lot. Very helpful video.
First off I want to say what a great inspiring video. I absolutely love it. I was hoping you could give me any recommendations on which topsoil / preferred brand. Also, would it be necessary to sterilize / pasteurize any of the ingredients used? Any input would be deeply appreciated
Love this video! I wish I would have seen this before I planted my containers. What would you suggest to help with containers getting compacted? Everything I've tried growing in containers doesn't survive I think cause my soil is too compacted. Does the peat moss help with that?
Edith you are correct. The peat moss will help, but I have an additional suggestion. This fall when you have cleaned the dead plant material from your containers, get some Green Sand. Green Sand is an organic soil additive. You will only find it at a very good garden center. Cover the surface of the soil in your containers with the Green Sand and scratch it in gently. Green Sand breaks down the compacting from clay-based soils and turns them in to a lovely loam. You also need to fertilize your container plants every 2 weeks. That might have contributed to the demise of your plants.
I know it's been a year but perlite is what you need for lightening up your soil. It help get oxygen to the roots too. Mix in 1/4 to 1/3 perlite to the entire mix. Perlite is used in virtually everybody's mix recipe and I fail to understand why granny here doesn't use it.
Question I’m having a hard time finding an answer. What makes planting in containers so different then planting in the ground, that we would want to have a specific container mix. Thanks
I love it 😍 thanks a lot for sharing this and I searched a lot to find a mix using top soil and here it’s and so it gives a good budget friendly option to use in my container gardening this year 👌👌
Rudimental Gardening, thank you for this question. After I plant seeds or bulbs or seedlings, I always augment the soil mix with period fertilizing. Usualyy every 2 weeks.
I am new in gardening and I live in the Uk. Could you please write the list of the key things we need to use our soil? I understood that we need: 1. top soil, 2. Organic matter- pig max? And 3. compost- dehydrated manure? Thank you in advance
Im a fresh newbie and live in GA looking to start growing beets, carrots and cabbage. Is it to late for this season or wait till next year. I have the serds you recommended and grow bags. All help is welcomed
Nice videos, I like your work,,,,,Question,,,,when we talk about soil, compost and manure, if we obtain these products from our local nursery how can we be certain that they are safe to grow food in? Is there a way we can test to be sure that they are getting quality in their loads that they provide to their customers? Im not talking about OMRI listed bags of these products, but large piles that they have for sale there. I need to be sure that what Im growing in is safe,,,, TY for all your videos
Dear Daydreamer, the answer to your question is that you can never be sure. The best protection is to know your garden center and to honestly share with them your concerns, but do it at a time when they are not inundated with customers, so they can speak with you frankly and honestly. Bulk, unbagged soil that they purchase may come from an entity that they trust and have done business with for years, but that entity may have changed soil collecting locations and may not know that the soil has contaminants. If the soil is near a riverbed and there has been catastrophic flooding, then perfectly fine soil may now have contaminants. One encouraging fact is that contaminants wash out of the soil fairly quickly. It may take as long as a year, but they will eventually be gone. You might want to plant or mulch with some soil enriching/cleansing plants like comfrey or alfalfa mulch. I am not sure how much 'cleansing' these plants/mulch do, but they will certainly enrich your soil significantly. Hope this helps a little... and thank you for your kind comment.
I set out and bought these components before realizing my dog loves to eat compost. I’m worried about her eating the mix out of the containers. Do you have any soil recipes without compost/manure? I have garden soil and peat moss
Emily, use 60% garden soil and 40% peat moss, but you will have to fertilize once a week to make up for the nutrients, especially the nitrogen you are not getting from the manure.
Daniel, sorry for the delayed response to your question. You don't need vermiculite or perlite in our mixes. The peat moss keeps the top soil from compacting and to a lesser extent so does the manure. The peat moss also supplies excellent organic matter and the manure supplies much needed micronutrients. Perlite and Vermiculite do neither.
I wonder if perlite and vermiculite are part of other common mixes because they help mitigate overwatering and underwatering. Also vermiculite stores excess nutrients or something like that. I was thinking of buying some because I haven't been a reliable gardener so far!
Hi ! This Daniel. I would like to ask you about since i had some bags of micracle grow garden soil on hand. Can i use them instead of bags of topsoil ?
Good for you and your plants. Thank you for the comment. It made me chuckle. Hadn't thought of that application. If you are interested in more info about gardening and our horticultural history, please sign up for our newsletter. The sign-up is located at the bottom at the bottom of this page; harvesting-history.com
Thank you for the video! What should I do with the soil after the growing season? Can I reuse it next year? If so how should I store it over the winter? Do I need to sterlise it? And most importantly, next spring how do I prepare the soil for use again? Would I treat it as crummy backyard soil and mix it with peat moss and compost? Or is there a different method to be prepare soil you've used from last year? I don't have any crummy backyard soil because I live in a townhouse so I have to go and buy the topsoil so being able to reuse the soil next year even as a base would be quite nice. 😊
Please re-use the soi and store it in the pots it is already in. I would not sterilize it. To prepare for this season, add dehydrated manure or compost this year. Next year add topsoil. Expect to lose about 10-20% of your soil each year. Alternate re[laceing the lost soil with compost/manure one year and topsoil the next. Hope this helps.
@@RobynWeaving Each year you will lose approximately 10% of the soil in your pots. At the beginning of the second year, replace the lost soil with dehydrated manure, any kind you like. At the beginning of the third season, replace the lost soil with the soil mix described in this video. The soil mix will contain 20% peat moss. Each following year alternate replacing the lost soil with manure one year and soil mix the next. Hope this helps.
I learned if you have good watering habits that just using potting mix on the bottom half if perlite based and mix with coco coir and mix soul in soil on the top half. For vermiculite based mixes add the soil mixed in thoroughly. Sorry to say lol I’m 39 and have 30+ years experience. Dad had me driving the ole truck from 8 years old running his nursery. 😊. If the roots get to the bottom by the time they do the nutrients will finally leech down at that time it also allows for better drainage in a pot. Especially for tomatoes or peppers it works great.
Nate, thanks for the comment. The problem with potting soil mixes is that they are too light. If you live in areas where there are frequent winds, movement of the plant in the pot will damage roots especially new roots. I encourage gardeners to do what works for them. After 68 years of gardening, (I planted my first zinnia seeds at age five, but didn't learn to drive a tractor until I was 68) the only thing I know for sure is that there are always more tings to learn and what works for one gardener does not necessarily work for another.
The concern I have of so much backyard soil is how heavy the pot will be. Here in the arid and hot southern NM climate I like to be able to move the pots around depending on the season. In 100 plus temps I have them in one location and in early spring a different location to get enough sun. Mine are primarily vegetables like tomatoes and peppers. I was confused. Do you top the containers off each year with organic matter? You mentioned fertilizing every two weeks? Do you dump out the soil and replenish it periodically? It just didn’t make sense to me to have same soil for 7 years for vegetables. The video is thought provoking for sure.
Sharon, you will lose 10-20% of your potted soil each year. In years 2 and 3 I replenish with manure/compost. In year 4, I replenish with soil. Then start with manure/compost regimen in year 5. I never discard my potted soil. I keep enriching it.
Looking forward to trying this recipe! Do you have any suggestions for converting into a mix suitable for indoor plants? I'm wondering how to minimize possibility of pests (like fungus gnats, etc) without harming the initial soil bacteria. I usually "sterilize" my grow mix with boiling water before sowing/planting, when seed starting for example. It seems that would harm the compost in this mix. Thank you in advance!
I cook any soil I have used before in the oven. I heat the soil to 250 degrees and let it cook for a minimum of 6 hours. This will harm some beneficial bacteria, but it definitely wipes out the pests. I console myself with the fact that the manure/compost partially reconstitutes the bacteria, but it does not completely replenish the bacteria. Boiling water over soil will not harm the compost because the water simply does not stay hot enough, long enough to do damage. Thanks for the excellent questions.
@@BarbaraMelera Thank you for your response! I didn't realize boiling water wouldn't kill off everything beneficial in compost. Good to know! Always trying to balance maximum prevention with minimum harm done. I understand the self-consolation!
Awesome video! I’m all new to gardening so I have a question. I plan on starting growing Tomatoes and habernero pepper🌶 ..can I use this mixed soil to start with the seedlings🌱? Or do I need a different type of soil? Thanks
I have been growing lettuce and tomatoes with this soil mix in grow bags and its been working for me Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience and know how with us.
Thank you for this! Can I direct sow seeds (annuals or perennials) after our last frost date in a container outside using this recipe mix? And when should I add fertilizer (such as organic Plant-tone)? I’m a beginner gardener. I want to start with containers. Zone 8b North Texas. Our last frost date is estimated to be 3/29.
Sandra, you can only direct sow seeds in a container IF you have the discipline to aggressively thin your seedlings when they sprout. For example, if you direct sow zinnia seeds in a 12-inch container, 20 may sprout and then you will have to remove 12-14 seedlings. Otherwise, you will not have healthy plants and beautiful flowers.
Hi Barb, Great video. I'm a first time Gardener at the age of 61. I mixed up a batch of soil like you have in your video but I'm a bit nervous because many many other sources will say things like one part, perulite, one part vermiculite, one part compost. Many don't even have the topsoil in there much less make it 60% of the soil. Any comments about that? I have strawberry plants, blueberry plants, raspberry plants coming. Do I add a supplement to your mixture as I think they need to be more acidic, right? Are there any vegetables where this mixture wouldn't be ideal? Thank you for taking the time to help us first timers.
Bonnie, I received your email and this comment. Thank you. I don't like perlite and vermiculite. Birds will often mistake perlite for seeds, for one thing. The soil mix we suggest, we have been using for 18 years with superb results. We have done more than 5,400 plantings with this mix. Plants must have soil for nourishment. Perlite and vermiculite provide none. They keep the soil from compacting, but so do peat moss and sometimes compost. Peat Moss provides organic matter which contains high levels of nitrogen and micronutrients critical for plant nourishment and growth. Compost provides nitrogen and other micronutrients. This is why we recommend this mix. Hope this helps. With your berries, you need to add pelletized sulfur to the blueberries and for all your berries a fertilizer like BerryTone from Espoma. You need to do this at the beginning of the season and not throughout the season.
Thanks Bonnie for this question and as usual@@harvestinghistoryllc3161 , Barb for sharing your expertise. This is really helpful. For the strawberries, other berries, can you please provide your comments to grow them in container gardening based on your vast experience in planting. I need an info on size of containers in diameter/depth, how many per container. Also, whether 60% top soil + 20 % peat moss + 20 % compost good enough, apart from BerryTone & pelletized. You suggested to use these at the beginning of the season, does this mean only for 6 to 8 alternate weeks?(as suggested for Tomatoes). Please share any useful tips or request you to post a video if possible on this berries. Thank you so much for sharing your time and experience.
What If I’m adding worm casting. Does it matter how much I add. Many people say the more the better with worm castings but I do think that might affect water drainage
GD 3, you are very welcome. We invite you to visit our Harvesting History website www.harvesting-history.com/ to learn more about your horticultural heritage and growing these beautiful plants.
Thank you I will try this one. I am trying Garys mix as well made with peat, Pumice, Perlite, sand and charcoal. However that mix tends to get expensive. Is this mix good for fruit trees and palms?
I have huge containers.. horse trough size. Will this work in those side containers, or more specifically for smaller containers? And will this grow a pomegranate tree? Best! Thank you!
We have used this mix in raised beds that measured 4 feet X 12 feet X 4 feet deep. We use it for everything except big cacti. With the big cacti we mix in 20% sand and reduce the crummy backyard soil. The mix will definitely grow a pomegranate tree.
Machiavelli, it sure is, but remember, Machiavellian principles when applied to horticultural systems is a certain recipe for failure. Fine for politics, not for plants.
LaVaNya, you can use this soil mix in a grow bag, but if you are growing something like potatoes, I would suggest that you place a 4-6 inch layer of this soil mix in the bag. Place the potato chunks in the bag/bags and cover them with 3-4 inches of the soil mix. Then fill the rest of the bag with straw, not soil. You will get the same amount of potatoes and it is a lot easier to maneuver and to clean up.
@@harvestinghistoryllc3161 Hi! I have three questions. I was wondering how you suggest fertilizing potatoes with this mix, ie what kind of fertilizer and how often? Also, do I have to add fertilizer to the bottom or can I add after planting?
I'm wondering if this mix would be appropriate for potted fruit trees like apples and peaches. I have found that bagged potting soils don't drain well enough (too much peat?), and I was looking for an alternative. I was thinking of just adding more perlite and vermiculite to potting soil, but im wondering if I could try this mix instead.
Victor, Sorry for the delayed response. It works very well for fruit trees. I have three large citrus growing in this soil mix and currently, between the three I have 120 immature fruit. Not all the fruit will reach maturity, but a bunch will.
i dont have enough soil around the house, but i bought a pack of organic coconut coir and im also making bokashi compost. can i add more coconut coir instead of soil? im growing plants indoor so im not too worried about the wind or so. thank you!
Hanh Dan, you are missing a very important ingredient with your Bokashi-Coconut Coir mix. The Bokashi compost will be a rich source of nutrients and micronutrients, but it is too acidic for plant roots and will burn them. The coconut coir serves to keep your mix from compacting. It also provides some nutrients. It funstions a little like peat most, but not exactly. go to the store and purchase some topsoil. Create a mix that is half topsoil, 1/4 compost and 1/4 coconut coir. That mix may work for your plants. Hope this helps.
