Aloe vera, Cactus, Succulents plants love arid environments. These environments lack water and have sand mix soil. when you are growing these desert plants do not require much water and need more sunlight. Your succulent soil mixture should meet two major requirements, they are quick drainage, and well-aerated. These requirements are crucial to plant growing conditions.
So these plants require minimum maintenance requirements and the most important thing is they are slow-growing plants. If you are a busy person, you can use these plants to decorate your indoor and outdoor. When creating your succulent soil mixture ensure that it has good moisture absorb materials like charcoal or perlite or similar ingredients.
Excessive moisture on the soil will rot the root system. In dessert, these plants store water in their stems, leaves, and trunks to use during the dry seasons. Normally deserts receive little rain, so using the stored water these plants survive throughout the year. So your plant needs sandy potting soil. Adding more drainage materials enhance the soil aeration and help the root system to absorb more oxygen and moisture.
Homemade Succulent Soil Mix.
This succulent soil recipe can use indoor and outdoor plants. In arid climates areas has the best dry climate soil. Those area soil will dry quicker than the humid locations. When you are preparing succulent soil mix in humid regions, you have to increase the drainage materials to enhance the potting mix drying time.
In an arid climate location, like Arizona, it is OK adding a few moist enhancing materials like cocopeat. Then it will reduce the regular water requirement, especially in the hot summertime. Though in humid regions, you should not use such moist enhanced materials to the succulent soil mix.
Homemade Soil Mix Key ingredients.
- Fine sand – 45%.
- Garden soil – 30%.
- Organic compost – 20%.
- Perlite or Charcoal or activated carbon or biochar small chips – 5%.
- Gravel or pebble chips.
Succulent Potting Mix Recipe.
- Add 45% of sands and 30% of garden soil. Your garden soil should not close to the clay. If you have close to the clay soil, you can change the soil condition naturally by using this simple guide.
- Then we use 20% of organic compost. In a desert, these plants receive fewer nutritions throughout the year. Though we can get rapid growth by giving few fertilizers.
- Then we can add 5% perlite, charcoals chips, activated carbon chips, or even biochar pieces whatever you have. These things will reduce the moisture level and quickly absorb excess water on the soil. You can get whatever you can easily find. We can prepare our own charcoals by burning woods. But do not let the woods fully burned, it makes everything into wood ash.
- Mix a few gravel or pebbles.
- Then well mix all these ingredients.
Adding more sands ensures that your pot well drainage. It is key to desert plants. Potting mix is not only affecting the growth of the plants, but these species also require good sunlight. So make sure your arid plants receive enough light throughout the day.
Charcoal is an important ingredient especially if you are living in a cold or rainy environment. Then they can absorb excess water and release them whenever the plant needed. Also charcoal has antifungal properties hence it provides protection against root rot. This is a good drainage material to improve soil aeration.
Gravel or pebbles: These things enhance pots’ drainage and make the soil loose. That is the main reason add them. Also, you can add them to the top of the surface for decorating purposes. Mixing pebbles/gravels with succulent soil mix enhances the aeration.
Best Succulent soil mix for arid climate growers.
As I mentioned above, arid climate growers need few changes to the succulent potting mix. In such a climate condition your environment has low humidity and water evaporates rapidly. So regular water essential especially when growing succulent outdoor pots. Adding a few Turface is beneficial.
- Fine sand – 30%.
- Garden soil – 30%.
- Organic compost – 25%.
- Turface or Charcoal or activated carbon or biochar small chips – 10%.
- Coco peat – 5%
- Gravel or pebble chips.
Turface enhances the succulent soil mix aeration. The most important thing is this material can absorb excess water and release it back when the plant needs it. It works just like activated charcoal in a potting mix. Adding more organic compost definitely loves the plant.
