(Pssst. This post is from 2015. I’m not pregnant anymore.) 😉
I’m back from the dead.
Or at least that’s what it feels like, especially if dead = first trimester.
That’s right, there’ll be a new Prairie Kid on the homestead come October. (Pssst. This post is from 2015. I’m not pregnant anymore.)
The funny thing about me and the first trimester (actually, funny really isn’t the right word…) is that my personality pretty much completely changes…
I go from this hyper-motivated, homesteading, business-running, gardening, cow-milking mama who loves life and loves activity, to someone who really doesn’t care about much of anything, can’t open the refrigerator without dry-heaving, and can barely get off the couch.
So yeah, it’s safe to say there wasn’t much from-scratch cooking happening in my kitchen these last few months. Which explains the lack of recipes here on the blog. I don’t even want to tell you what I’ve been eating. It’s all-about survival-mode, baby…
BUT, I’m officially 14 weeks and I think I’ve finally turned the corner. And let me tell ya, I’m ready to roll off the couch and get back to being my hyper, dig-in-the-dirt, cooking-up-a-storm self.
And what better way to celebrate finally feeling better, than… homemade potting soil. Am I right?
I’ve always kinda cringed when I’ve thrown those green and yellow bags of potting soil in my shopping cart at the garden store. I figured there was a better way, but never took the time to figure it out… Until now.
Thankfully, my homemade potting soil recipe is pretty darn easy to throw together. And it’ll save you some $$ too.
Why These Ingredients for My Homemade Potting Soil Recipe?
Truthfully, mixing your own homemade potting soil recipe isn’t rocket science, and there are plenty of ways to make it happen. A good potting mix will:
- Be firm enough to support the plant
- Be light enough to allow air/water to flow with minimal compaction
- Be free of weed seeds and potential pathogens
But here is why I chose the ingredients I did:
Coconut Coir: Many DIY potting mix recipes call for peat moss, but since there is so much debate regarding mining from peat bogs, I decided to steer clear of it and opt for coir instead. Coconut coir is a by-product of the coconut-processing industry, and is basically ground-up coconut husk fibers. It is a fantastic choice for soil-less potting mix, as it retains water beautifully. I got mine in a big brick, and had to soak it in water before it was ready to use. You can substitute it 1:1 for peat moss in potting soil recipes
Perlite: Perlite is a lightweight volcanic rock. It holds water and helps to aerate the soil and keep it from compacting. Some people also use vermiculite or plain ol’ coarse sand in place of perlite in homemade potting soil recipes, too.
Compost: Well, you know what compost is, so I really don’t have to explain this one. Compost adds nutrients to the soil and it’s usually pretty much free if you make it at home yourself. Just make sure to use finished compost to avoid “burning” your plants or introducing weed seeds into your pots. Also, I used the finest compost I could find in my pile– you may need to sift yours if you have chunky stuff. Worm castings are another great option here.
What about Dirt?
Sorry… I meant to say soil. (I always get at least one reader correcting me when I call it dirt instead of soil.) 😉 You can absolutely use regular ol’ soil in your potting mix, and many folks do. However, it’s advised to sterilize the soil first, to eliminate weeds and potential pathogens. This can be accomplished by baking the soil at 200 degrees in your oven.
Why didn’t I do this? Because I could only imagine the mess I’d make trying to bake 10 gallons of dirt (er… soil) inside my kitchen… It just didn’t sound like fun, so I opted for coconut coir instead. Also– using straight soil in your pots can open you up to issues with compaction. So, even if you *do* decide to use sterilized soil, make sure to add some sand or other lightener in there, too.
Homemade Potting Soil Recipe
(this post contains affiliate links)
- 2 parts* coconut coir (where to buy)
- 1 part finished, sifted compost
- 1 part perlite (where to buy)
*a “part” can be anything you like– a measuring cup, a coffee can, a five-gallon bucket, etc. It just depends on how much potting soil you want to make.
If your coir came in a block, you’ll need to hydrate it.
I did this by allowing the coir “brick” to sit in water until I was able to break it apart. I then added more water until it was easy to flake apart in my hands and very moist.
Next, mix the coir and compost. Add more water if you need too– I found it much easier to handle/mix if the mixture was damp.
Add in the perlite, give it a stir, and you’re ready to go!
Use your Homemade potting soil recipe like you would store-bought mix.
DIY Potting Soil Recipe Notes:
- Keep in mind this recipe is super flexible and lends itself well to substitutions. In some of the other recipes I’ve seen, people substituted sterilized soil or peat moss for the coconut coir, vermiculite or coarse sand for the perlite, and all sorts of different fertilizers (kelp meal, bone meal, blood meal, worm castings) for the compost.
- This stuff is mucho easier to mix if it’s damp.
- How does it compare in price? I paid $15.96 for an 11-lb brick of coconut coir in Amazon and $16.70 for a bag (18-quarts) of perlite. My local garden stores are pretty dismal when it comes to specialty ingredients, so it was unlikely I could have found those things here. The compost was free. Considering I only used a fraction of my ingredients for my first batch, they should last me for a while… And if you substituted coarse sand or sterilized soil, this homemade potting soil recipe would be even cheaper.
More Gardening Tips:
- 7 Simple Ways to Improve Garden Soil
- What We Learned by Having Our Garden Soil Tested
- How to Make Compost Tea
- How to Test Seeds for Viability
- How to Disinfect Seed Trays
Lilly Moscato says
Thank you, Jill. This is what I needed to know.
Congratulations on the new botw (blessing on the way)!
Funny thing about perlite, I always thought it to be styrofoam…
I’m glad it’s completely natural!
Keep on inspiring us. =)
Lilly
Jill Winger says
Wanna know a secret? I always used to think the perlite was the fertilizer… Oh the things we learn! 😉
Megan says
Wow! Your page is so inspiring! This is exactly what me and my family want to do. So happy to have found your page! We just bought (getting our keys Tuesday) a small farm with about 50 acres and want to start homesteading! There are so many things that we need/want to do and my husband is the only one bringing in an income. So your information is wonderful for me. Thank you so much!!
Jill Winger says
CONGRATS! That is so darn exciting!!
Missy says
Oh my gosh, Jill!!! I’m SO excited to hear about your new Prairie Kid!!! You are a huge inspiration to me!
Love the potting soil! I was thinking about making my own this year but wasn’t sure how to go about that. Thanks for sharing!
Jill Winger says
Thanks Missy! xoxo
Sally at Garden Valley Homestead says
Great recipe, Jill. We have to make our soil here too. Our native soil is too alkaline for most plants.
Teresa says
As my 4-H extension agent always said….”It’s soil ladies! Except when you drag it in on your mama’s clean floor, and then it’s dirt!”
Jill Winger says
ha! love it!
ZELDA LEE HOOVER says
This is the recipe I use with coir. Peat does not like my skin, and I do not like breaking out with itchies. Thank you for all the good info.
Peter Gatt says
By advising people to sterlise the soil you are telling them to kill the microbial activity in the soil – Soil biodiversity is the most essential element to healthy plants.
John says
I don’t think “biodiversity” is what most people are looking for when they use potting soil and is the whole point of sterilizing it (for me at least). Of course if you don’t want that, then use non-sterilized soil.
Bob says
I know this is an old comment, but in case anyone reads this “in the future” …
Sterilizing the soil is still a good idea because you don’t really know how “diverse” that biodiversity really is. You may be bringing all kinds of bad pathogens into your container garden. Plus, you are killing all the random weed seeds that may be hiding in the soil. Not to mention fungus gnat eggs and other bad bugs.
Your compost, composted manure or worm castings will bring a whole bunch of good living things back into your mix. You can always brew a compost or worm tea and feed your seedlings with that to also boost all those good bio-active stuff.
steve says
Is the ratio the same using compost vs worm castings?
Christina says
Congratulations on the new baby 🙂 Thanks for the potting soil recipe.
Kristi says
Welcome back and thanks for all the helpful advice that you share on your blog. I just reading about all you do. Congrats on having a new arrival coming to your family. People can also use Cotton Burr Compost and Earthworm castings (Organic Natural fertilizer – “worm poo”) I had a large bag to my two raised beds and my 10X10 in ground garden each year. Great stuff!
Thanks for the recipe!
Jill Winger says
Great tip Kristi! Thanks!
Cher says
Thanks for the Golden Nugget. I’ve been frustrated with the little chickweeds that sprout up in my ‘used’ soil/dirt, choking my herb and lettuce seedlings. 200 degrees will ‘clean it up’ and let my intended greens thrive. Yay!!
Cher says
ps. I garden in pots not plots.
Anna says
This is a fantastic, easy recipe for potting soil! I think I’ll try this for my potted plants. I have a bunch of tropical plants that will need a freshening of soil before they head outside for the warm summer months- and all I’ll need to get is the coconut coir.
I remember using coir in horticulture classes in college- was so much fun to expand it. I loved the feeling of it in my hands as I forced it into water as it expanded. You don’t need to force it of course, but it was fun. Sort of like a kid playing in the mud!
Also, so glad you’re feeling better. Enjoy your pregnancy!
Jill Winger says
Exactly! just like making mud pies. 🙂
Amber says
Thanks for the tip! Been looking for something like this.
paulina says
A guy told me he used the inside of a pamper instead of perlite is that good
Barb says
May be easy to mix by hand,but we have an old cement mixer with electric motor. Works great for ole backs like mine
Jill Winger says
Thats a great idea!
Kasey says
Hi everyone,
I want to share a great website for sourcing the coconut coir for those of us who will be making smaller batches of potting soil.
Good ol’ www-dot-chewy-dot-com, which is where I purchase dog food for my Great Danes, carries coconut coir for use in reptile habitats and terrariums. The packaging sizes they sell clearly won’t be appropriate for large-scale potting soil production, but if you are making a smaller batch, they will do the trick.
The bonus is that if you purchase $49 worth of supplies for your pets at the same time, then you get free shipping which is awesome because the coconut coir is only $2.99 for a 7 qt brick and basic shipping is more than that. (For me, this is a no-brainer because one bag of my dog’s food is well over $49, so I will be getting the coconut coir on my next drop-shipped order.)
{I apologize for not including a direct link which would be much easier instead of having to type the URL into your browser’s address bar. This is the first time I’ve commented on Jill’s site, and I don’t know what her policy on links inside comments is, so I’m erring on the side of respectfulness and caution.}
Happy soiling! (That sounds really terrible, doesn’t it?!?)
Blessings everyone,
Kasey
Jill Winger says
Thanks for sharing this Kasey! Super helpful!
Daryle in VT says
Hi Jill,
Sterilizing soil IN the house may not smell much like say chocolate chip cookies … depending on what is in the soil. It’s more fun to use an aluminum turkey roasting pan from the grocery store and the BBQ grill on the back porch.
BTW: The stuff in a Pamper is a form of hydro-gel. According to a garden writer from Canada, it holds water, but does not release it like water crystals.
One substitute for Perlite might be vermiculite, a type of inert clay. One ounce of vermiculite, about what you could hold in your hands, has a surface area approaching FIVE ACRES! An acre is 43,560 square feet.
Roxie Harris says
Jill, I’m wondering if you have a solution to the problem of trying to have spring flowering bulbs and free ranging chickens at the same time? I would love to have some tulips, crocus’ and daffodils but hate to plant them only to feed them to the chickens the next spring, and I really hate to pen my chickens up. Any ideas?
Jill Winger says
The only solution I’ve found is to either fence out the chickens from the beds or lock them up all the time. It’s definitely a pain either way!
Gloria says
Would anyone know if Walmart sells coconut coir? Their free shipping is $39 and over
Evan Jackson says
They are closing out the coir in the virginia beach, va stores. Got it off the shipping pallet before they shipped it out. $3.50 a brick. By the amount they had here it must not have moved very well.
Chris Odbratt says
Hi! I would not use Vermiculite, it can still be contaminated with asbestos. The largest mine, in Libby, Montana, was forced to cease operation as late as 1990. The US’ EPA spent $ 120 M on the cleanup at Libby. A very large mine in Russia is mining vermiculite in conjunction with asbestos…
US & Europe has, today, fairly stringent rules in place for the use of Vermiculite products…
But better safe than sorry, also, Perlite is cheaper…
Ahmed Ahmed Sa'eed says
Great recipe i was just thinking to do the same then found you online to confirm my idea, now i’m using soil mix 3 parts compost with 1 part perlite some plants are dying i’m not sure why, what do you think is the reason?
Ahmed Ahmed Sa'eed says
also some plants stretch gets weak, small new growth and lose color or even stop growing although these are signs for low light i place them in my balcony with good light conditions!
Christina says
Can you use a microwave to heat the soil instead of the oven?
Twila Mustain says
I recently found Organic Coconut Coir at Wal-Mart. I started some seedlings for lettuce, and they are thriving! I will definitely buy more to add to my new garden beds this summer.
Charlie 1939 says
Don’t understand how cost effective it is to make your own potting soil mix especially when the labor of mixing it is taken into consideration. My garden is about 50′ X 40′. Many of the vegetables as started inside in order to get head start on the growing season. At best I might use 6 to 8 cubic feet of potting soil in which corn, tomato, melon, pepper, leeks, onion, squash and other seeds are started inside under a bright light.
On occasion I might mix some perlite into some garden soil such as one bag (2 cubic feet)of perlite mixed with two bags (4 cubic feet of garden soil. There is always some perlite and soil left over for next year. I suggest that anyone thinking of making their own potting soil first do some math on the cost of perlite, coconut fiber and soil. Both Lowes and Home Depot are new my location but I have never seen coconut fiber sold by either.
Kayla- Prairie Homestead Assistant says
Hey Charlie, thanks for sharing your opinion on this matter! Given all the reasons you stated, maybe this isn’t the potting soil for you. But for many people, making their own potting soil is something that’s a good option for them.
Barry says
By compost, do you mean ordinary compost from table scraps, yard clippings, etc.? Apparently on some websites (maybe British) “Compost” just means dirt – I mean soil.
Kayla- Prairie Homestead Assistant says
For me, compost just means high-quality soil. So specifically for me, I would get that high-quality soil from my compost pile.
Vee says
How do you store the remaining coco coir when it has been already been soaked? Can I store in an open container and let it dry?
Clara says
Hi,
So just an FYI once “soil” becomes devoid of living organisms it IS actually dirt. And “sterilizing” it through baking is doing just that! So “baked soil” = dirt. You can mention that to anyone next time they correct you. You are, in fact, using dirt. ;-). Happy planting!
Aimee says
I’m new to your blog and reading through some of your very helpful posts! This one stopped me in my tracks when I clicked your links to buy coconut coir and perlite – you stated you spent less than $16 on the coir, Amazon currently lists it at $49!!! I guess a lot has happened over the past 8 years, I just didn’t think inflation was over 300% from then. I may wind up buying bags of premade potting mix after all.
Cris - Prairie Homestead Team says
I suggest checking out local garden supply stores for your coconut coir and perlite. I have found very affordable large bags of them in local gardening stores instead of on amazon. Happy hunting!