Make Your Own Organic Potting Soil

If you make your own organic potting mix, you still have to avoid using any prohibited ingredients, and that means checking out all the individual ingredients for their organic acceptability.

It may surprise you to learn that products like peat moss or limestone are sometimes treated with prohibited materials such as wetting or anti-caking agents, so don’t rely on assumptions about purity.

In addition to meeting certification requirements, your final product will also need to provide plant roots with the right amount of air, water and nutrients.

(Source: Potting Mixes For Organic Growers).

Organic Potting Soil Mixes & Recipes

Classic Soil-Based Mix

1/3 mature compost or leaf mold, screened
1/3 garden topsoil
1/3 sharp sand

Seedling Mix for Styrofoam Seedling Flats

2 parts compost
2 parts peat moss
1 part vermiculite, pre-wet

Sowing Mix

5 parts compost
4 parts soil
1-2 parts sand
1-2 parts leaf mold, if available
1 part peat moss, pre-wet and sifted

Note: All ingredients are sifted through a 1/4-inch screen. For every shovelful of peat, add two tablespoons of lime to offset the acidity.

Growing Mixes for Pots and Baskets

30 percent topsoil
60 percent peat
10 percent perlite
5 pounds lime per cubic yard
3 pounds dolomitic lime per cubic yard

Note: The handling of this pot mix is the same as for pack mix.

Bedding Plant Recipe

25% compost
50% peat moss
25% perlite or vermiculite

*Source: National Sustainable Agriculture Information Services

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