Well Drained Soil Mix

It provides plants with iron for lush green growth and enhanced water filtration.

Well drained soil mix.

Sphagnum peat moss comes from sphagnum bogs. Soil drainage is a very important factor to consider when planting salvia agastache lavender penstemon and other perennials that like well drained soil. Just add the peat and perlite for aeration. I was explaining to someone recently that flowering cherry trees absolutely require well drained soil to succeed.

Limestone is added to peat based potting mixes to help balance the ph. Your cherry will be dead in a year if you plant it on. This soil is usually just as good as or better than garden soil. These soils do not drain too quickly or too slowly.

When added to potting soil and the soil is watered the flakes help hold water. An alternative to using garden soil is to use a cheap bag of all purpose potting soil. For cactus plants or succulents you may wish to add a little sand to this potting mix. Sphagnum peat moss is well draining and well aerated but it s very low in available nutrients and it has an acidic ph typically ranging between 3 5 and 4 5.

Simply put well drained soil is soil that allows water to drain at a moderate rate and without water pooling and puddling. How to create well draining soil. When vermiculite is dry it looks like spongy flakes. The essential element in well drained soil is oxygen which is just as important as water in growing healthy plants.

It bulks up potting mixes without adding a lot of weight and once wet it holds water fairly well. Compacted clay soils are notorious for encouraging. There are few things a gardener can do that will improve a garden more than creating well draining soil. When added to soil it helps increase air space and improves water drainage.

Lime increases the ph of a potting mix to around 6 0 and is ideal for plant growth in containers. Vermiculite also helps aerate the soil so it doesn t pack down. Well drained soil is a soil where water infiltrates at a medium rate somewhere between running off and draining as though someone pulled a plug. Sulfur helps lower soil ph by reducing excess alkalinity.

Well that s not a problem they responded i m planting on a slope so water drains right past it sloping soil is usually poorly drained i replied. Soil that is water logged does not drain well and is anaerobic oxygen deficient resulting in drowned and rotted roots.