Customize Soil Mixes

 

 

We all know that plants have different preferences for where they rest their “feet” (roots).

Some plants preferred very dry medium, like rosemary and lavenders, while others thrived in moist but well-drained mixes.

Generally, plants do not tolerate having their roots soaked all the time.

Thus, it is important to know how to customize soil mixes or at the very least, how to adjust ready mixes for different plants’ needs.

Seasoned gardener, Guanster Guan, shared his soil formula for dry loving plants that need very well-drained soil.

By this, he meant that water needs to drain out very fast, it does not sit in the soil.

His ratio is 1:1:1 of the following :

LECA balls (small ones)

Rice Husks

Baba Organic Vege mix (suitable for edibles)

 

 

 

 

TIP – ADJUST SOIL MIXES TO SUIT THE ENVIRONMENT

 

Guanster also advised gardeners to adjust this ratio according to the garden’s environment.

 

WINDY, DRY ENVIRONMENT

To add more veg mix (or other good quality compost) so that the medium does not dry up too fast.

 

 

NO WIND, NO BREEZE ENVIRONMENT

If the garden’s location is humid, where the airflow is bad and stale, it is advisable to add more LECA balls which allow aeration for the roots.

 

For soil mixes that contained compost, perlite (volcano ash that had been dried in 1200C heat), coco chip, etc, his ratio advice is not more than 30%  of each because this media will become acidic over time.

Plants such as lavender and rosemary which preferred alkaline PH do not thrive in acidic soil.

On super soil mix for most other plants, his preferred formula is these brands with lecca.

 

PLANTS WHO LIKE MOISTURE

He likes Naturegro compost with Garden Formula Potting Mix below.

 

Other gardeners’ preferences as followed –

 

For edibles, add in Baba Vegemix (picture is the third one from the top) for a potent formula.

Another gardener, Ooi Shirley, enjoyed a good harvest with this Baba Vegemix for most of her plants.

Jaimie Lim used Garden potting mix for seeds and rosemary plants.

Guanster used Baba vegemix to germinate seeds.

 

VERY DRY LOVING PLANTS

For succulent n cactus, Guanster’s formula is Baba cacti/succulent mix, volcano sand and lecca at the ratio of 1 : 1: 2

 

 

 

Mix thoroughly and remove any coarse particles.

 

 

On burnt soil, Guanster advised this will break down into a powdery form over a year.

This prevent aeration and thus choked plants’ roots.

He preferred to use dried rice husks (noncarbonated) which break down into plant food instead.

On volcanic soil, he felt that as it has a sticky texture, it is best to mix with volcanic sand rather than compost.

Or volcanic sand with compost.

Guanster stressed that this is the preferred soil formula that he hopes to share with fellow gardeners.

 

“Don’t have to follow 100% ! “.

 

There is more than one way to garden and customize soil mixes.

Most seasoned gardeners have their own formulas.

It is important to understand the WHY’s and use this information as a guideline for available options only.

Regarding feeding, his advice is to reduce dosage and increase frequencies.

Plants suffer a shock when gardeners do the opposite, which is feed once a month but increased dosage than recommended.

This applied to every fertilizer.

 

Still unsure? Fret not, workshops are available, where we will start an edibles garden and teach from scratch!

 

 

OTHER TIPS ON BUYING NURSERIES PLANTS

 

Check the base of the stems (especially for rosemary and lavender).

DO NOT buy if the lowermost stems are black or browning.

This indicates roots rot already.

Plants in this condition will die soon.

Check the color of the leaves.

Stressed plants showed distress in leaves as well, for example, brown and discolored leaves.

Check the soil for fungus or algae.

 

Most local nurseries plants came from Cameron Highlands or other parts of Malaysia.

 

The reasons why most of these plants suffered stress are the following :

 

Weather – our local weather is hot compared to the plants’ growing environments in Cameron Highlands.

Plants in peat-based media to retain as much moisture for their long journey to Singapore.

This media is not suitable for humid Singapore.

The plants are also wrapped in plastic and packed in boxes, to prevent a spill in the cargo.

This increased the heat stress on the plants.

Long queues at customs put these plants in extreme stress conditions when they finally reached our nurseries.

 

Knowing how to customize soil or media for different plants’ needs increased the survival rate for these plants.

 

For rosemary and lavender, as we found out in earlier posts, Guanster also gave the same advice, that is changing the media from nurseries’ coco peat base to very well draining media.

 

His preferred formula is 1:1:1  (lecca, rice husks, and vege mix).

Other gardeners from the above 2 hyperlinks have other formulas.

Less severely stressed plants can be treated.

Once media is changed to a more suitable type, these plants’ are slowly acclimatized.

First placed plants in partial sunlight or filtered bright area (afternoon sun).

The best is 4 to 5 hours of the morning sun.

Water as prescribed to the plants’ needs.

 

 

Last but not least, remember there are workshops and SHOP to start a beginner’s edibles journey now!