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Everything is getting more expensive. And that includes potting mix or compost, which is one of the humble vegetable gardener’s greatest expenses. So, what if you could slash that cost in half by making your own mixes with a few simple ingredients? Not only are they cheaper than store-bought mixes, but they are better for your plants too! Ben shows us how in this week’s episode.
35 Comments
You've given the price of the coir as 11p per litre – could you say where you got it from so cheaply.
I can't find anywhere near that price.
To quote a 2023 Gardens Illustrated article "there have been two big, well-designed scientific studies of the effects of rock dust, one in Scotland and the other in Sweden, and both found exactly the same: nothing. There was no effect on yield, plant nutrient content or soil chemistry."
This is a great share. Thank you!😁
Hello from France !
I want to try using less potting mix, but I have doubts (and a small experience) with fungal disease on small seedlings, especially tomatoes/peppers, that tend to rot (Pythium, or equivalent). I usually buy one bag of potting mix just to start these seedlings in pure potting mix, then when repotted in bigger pots, I then mix it with my garden compost. WOuld you agree saying adding compost or soil to your own home grown potting mix such as you or Dowding does it is OK even for every type of seeds …?
I was so disappointed last year. Not one bag of potting soil, garden soil, potting mix…had ANY dirt. Mulch and food beads and sand. That's it. I live in the ozark foothills, we have clay and rocks, very little soil. So…very little grew 😢
I love this channel, it's so relaxing to watch and I learn so much. Thank you. 🥰
I was hoping for some excellent tips, bit it was sort of a mixed bag… 😜
Awesome ideas!🇨🇦♥️
I love this channel. It always has the best and most useful information.
Hi Ben. Great stuff as always. You may have answered this and I’ve missed it but what could I use instead of perlite. I know you’ve mentioned grit but ….what kind of grit? Pea gravel or something else?
Best regards
THANK YOU FOR THE BOOK. Will be an interesting read.
shouldn't your seed starting mix contain at least some nutrients? Coir + perlite + vermiculite doesn't have any useful plant food for the seedlings
I like using used coffee / tea leftovers, soaked leaves and other plant matters. The hardest thing to come across for me is actually the dirt to mix all those into, but such is city life. I usually take those from open construction sites which often has mounds of dirt shoved on side.
The stuff I have been buying has big chunks of bark and stones. Going to make my own now.
I Hope this is gonna be useful and not, don't buy soil because you can mix compost with dirt outside. As if it's so easy and affordable to get compost.
What is grit and where can I get it?
Can be cheaper to buy in bulk from a specialist especially if you need a lot say for an allotment, example:Bulk bags/Regular bags – Organic green compost 9p ltr – Mushroom compost 6p ltr – Horse manure mulch 9p ltr – Premium multi-purpose 9p ltr CPA Horticulture but you do miss out on the fun of making your own.
Hi which soil can be used for betel leaf plant?
I use sifted garden compost, sifted leaf mold from my local wood, a bit mole hill soil and vermiculite. Seems to work OK. Might give coir a go to avoid weed seeds that are in my home made compost.
Great video, litre not liter though. 🙂
Hi Ben
Great video as always.
Do you recommend any particular brands for the coir, perlite and vermiculite?
I'm in the USA. I've never seen grit sold for garden use. No idea where to get it or what the cost is here.
7:40 Something's not quite adding up here. Is vermiculite that much more expensive in the US or did you get the conversion wrong?
What exactly is 'grit'? Is it the same as 'coarse sand', which is all I am able to find?
Im 70 now, and love gardening. I want to grow a few veg. I want to plant, tomatow, cucumbers, and salad. I would be happy with that. Never know what soil to use. I live in london UK.
If you are doing a big project it might be worth lending or having a cement mixer on hand to do the batches ready
Thanks Ben!!! Blessings to you and yours!!! Looking forward to gardening this year.
Getting ready to pot up some cabbage and leeks and couldn't remember this recipe. Glad it was easy to find again here. I'm noting it my garden notebook. Thank you!
I would advise everybody not to grow plants indoors. I did it for 40 years because I got addicted to them. But if I had my life all over again, I would not start with even one plant. They attract pests – moth caterpillars, fruit flies, horrible fungi, grubs, etc. To be fair, I also had a few bees, hoverflies and wasps – even cicadas, earwigs and centipedes. Yeah, I enjoyed some flowers and herbs and veggies after a lot of hard work fighting these creatures, spending a lot of money on pots and potting soil, and staining badly my expensive balcony tiles, despite all kinds of barriers to protect them. The worst were the fruit flies and mosquitoes that even affected the neighbourhood. I never got dragon flies or butterflies, but even if they had come, it was simply not worth sacrificing precious time that I could spent playing with my young children or helping them with their homework or telling them stories. Now they are grown up and gone. Big loss. At sixty, I no longer have the energy and put them all out where they can be taken by those who think they 'love' plants. Poor things don't know what they're getting into!
Ben where did you source coir for 11pence a litre?
Mel’s mix. Classic.
Your seed starting compost has no nutrients in it which worries me. Charles Dowding also maintains that seed sowing compost needs some nutrients.
Can I reuse last year's used potting mix from my tomato, pepper and cucumber plants perhaps in place of the coir?
The 60% clay dirt, 30% compost and 10% grit you mention is the exact same mix im using for my containers! Works great specially on summer, because of the moisture retention of the clay.
People generally disqualify topsoil on the internet, but it's great and also full of minerals.
Yea…enjoy the weeds and harmful nematodes along with other pests and diseases from garden mud.