Building an Inert Potting Mix on a Budget

How to put together one of the most popular inert potting mixes for cheap with ingredients that are easy to find anywhere online and will work great when paired with any liquid nutrient feed.

This is part 1 of a 4 part series on building your own organic soil mixes.

Part 1: Building an Inert Potting Mix

[for__four]

This is the most underrated grow channel on YouTube. Great job and please don’t stop making videos like this

[Crankstation]

You deserve more recognition, your videos are the best diy cannabis grows on YouTube I’ve seen. I listen to podcasts and read a lot too the only other thing I could do is buy a few books. I really aim to evolve to grow the best quality I can possibly grow one day, for gifts and my own smoking.

[RealGrimReaper]

Dude every video I watch on this channel helps me in one way or another. You are great at what you do!

[mind.meld-]

Your channel is always informative, thank you for these educational videos! The soil mix is great and offers scalability.

[Green-LineK]

This is what i use and add just a little bit of compost to support any small transplants for the first couple weeks

[nickrumple]

Man you have taught me so much i just had my first harvest and it was amazing thank you for your teachings and advice i cant wait for the next 2 parts much love

[STONEDay]

Peat ships from one Province over (Quebec --> Ontario) and is regulated industry here in Canada.
Coco ships from other side of the World originating in countries that have Child labor issues.
Buying Pro-Mix keeps my $$ in the Country.

[willmack]

You have so much great information. High quality given in easily digestible amounts!

[Crankstation]

I really like these videos, you have helped so much. I started my tent about a month ago, going good just paying attention to a lot of sources of information. starting off light on any fertilizers or things I add. I got 6 plants all some bag seed, 4 are great 2 are slow. This is my first grow all to myself, I have grown a few small plants but we’re destroyed by parents 😂 as expected, wasn’t mad just getting experience for when I was older.

[hiroyopoetker]

Everyone please spray water into your perlite so it won't make clouds.
Just poke holes at the bottom and put some water, the perlite will stay moist but never go bad.

[megalepivolos]

as always very educative video thanks my friend you are the teacher

[ericsuiter]

Great topic, and as always, great video. Living in a very rural location I choose to create my own soil as well.
I've been experimenting and found that certain ingredients benefit from additions. Specifically, aside from washing the salts from coco coir, it becomes a better product once buffered with calcium. This seems to apply to pre-buffered (and often more costly) coco coir products. Guessing the standards of suppliers differ from the expectations of cunsumers... imagine that...

Wash and screen your perlite. Even the expensive brands. You may be surprised how much "fines" are in there. That dust has the opposite effect on your mix in that it compacts pretty tight. Not so good for aeration purposes.
Once washed, I charge my perlite with calcium as well.

I use sphagnum peat moss in my mix. It retains water. It's a great carbon source for microbial activity. It's very affordable. However, the pH is insanely low for most plants. Lime if you have time, potash for a quick fix.

Using ingredients "as-is" does work, but be mindful of pH and nutrient cation madness. Planning and building in advance will help you avoid some surprises during the grow.

Thank you for sharing your work.

[flightpeak]

I'm a beginner grower I just popped my first seed from other research I've conducted on making your own soul correct me if I'm wrong but coco has basically no nutrients for the plant and perlite is used to make the soil fluffy so it doesn't compact down so your seed can root easily but you have to also add worm casting for nutrients or the plants gonna die

[comfortablynumb]

If you bottom water your perlite won't float so much. And you shouldn't get gnats because the soil surface stays dry. Try Earthboxes or homemade wicking beds. You won't be disappointed.

[jimster]

Pro tip look up which places sell on site made compost in your area and call and ask them about pumice. The stuff works just as good as pearlite and is 1/10th the price.

also at the same place i found blocks of coco coir at half the price of the cheapest i could find online.

[dasunwahalathanthrige]

Rather perlite can I use LECA pebbles? Coz in our area we can`t find perlite.

[Bloomcycle]

I use Promix, cow manure, black earth and a bit extra perlite and it works perfectly

[HasF.kZ]

What about buffering? And how do i know which nutrients i actually need? ITS propably best to get all nutrients in single bottles to Mix it myself fitting my needs right? But how do i know what to feed and when?

[VTpower]

great video 👍
Two recommendations, always wear gloves 🧤 and wash perlite with water one day before mix...

[Brovillion]

So I’ve been using pumice and rice hulls. Mainly because perlite floats and it’s not necessarily organic. It is but it isn’t. Rice hills do not float and they break down and produce silica. Your plant needs silica. Pumice doesn’t break down very fast and it doesn’t float. It’s heavier but still.