Ask the Expert: POTTING SOIL MIXTURE RATIO

I shall be greatful if you could kindly send me

1.  Potting soil & Peat moss mixing ratio   for Indoor Plants.

2.  Few aromatic House plants with good foliage & flowers that can be grown indoors under artificial light.

3.  Fertilizer rate & intervals of application for Draceana sanderiana when grown in water.

Benny

Reply:

Answer to question #1 - Let's begin with potting soil for indoor plants.  The type of potting soil needed for indoor houseplants depends on the house plant itself.   A good basic houseplant mixture will have equal amount of potting soil, peat moss and perlite.  If your potting soil is more sand based rather that bark based use half as much perlite as the other two ingredients.

Keep in mind certain plants will have special soil requirements.  Orchids aa well as cacti and succulents will need a more porous soil.  To acheive a more porous soil forgo the peat moss.  Instead for the Orchids add more bark and even lava rubble or pumice.  For the cacti and succluents add coarse sand, lava rubble or pumice.

The soil mixture really depends on how much drainage the plant requires.  Remember peat retains moisture and bark or sand don't.

Answer to question #2 - Nothing is better than an aromatic plant.   Finding an aromatic houseplant will depend on how much light the plant will get from your articfical light.    Here are a few suggestion: Gardenia jasminoides, Hoya (Wax Plant), Hyacinths, Pelargonium (Scented Geraniums), Stepahotis Floribunda, Plectranthus australis (Swedish Ivy).  You can also grow these herbs in the house:  rosemary,  lavender, mints.

Answer to question #3 -  This plant doesn't require much fetilizer and will be damaged if you use too much fertilizer.   You can fertilize the plant every 2 to 6 months using  a water soluble fertilizer or aqarium plant food  that has been diluted to 1/10th of it's strength.  This should be done when you change the water.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 10:48 am and is filed under Plant Care Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.