Let's Talk About General Potting Mixes

Let's Talk About General Potting Mixes

So you find yourself in the garden centre, you've stocked your cart with luscious green babes but you look at the nursery pots and you see them in... pure peat moss - YIKES! Next to the plants you see... 'Houseplant mix with added drainage? So You grab the bag, you take it home, you pop that sucker open to find; peat moss with no components for drainage! "Oh god..." you whisper

Then you start to reason with yourself; "Maybe I can still use it? It can't be that bad... right?” Well my dirty loves, unfortunately it is. The long list of negatives for peat moss far outweigh what minor positives it can bring. Starting with pests and disease - those huge bags are left out for weeks on end. Wet and humid with multiple holes just RIPE for pest insects to lay their eggs and for nasty microbes to accumulate in the damp, airless environment. Then there's the poor excuse for drainage that these bags offer, with just a sprinkling of grit or sand mixed in.

A comparison between generic store bought potting mixes and Soil Ninjas Organic, Peat Free, Hand Mixed Premium Blends

The plants we take home, no matter how long the species has been in cultivation, has evolved to grow in one part of the world in relatively specific conditions - we have to emulate those conditions in our homes to some degree to keep those roots happy and healthy! With a lack of natural wind, truly aerating and detoxifying amendments are a absolute necessity.

Let's be honest a 'General potting mix’ isn’t ideal. Especially since there are tens of thousands of beautiful, incredible and radically different house plants available. If you need a fun metaphor, how about this: You wouldn't use one type of food for your goldfish, dog, cat and child- would you? They all require different things to thrive!

Our premium mixes catered to whole groups of these plants, providing everything they require for every kind of root, whether its the thick and strong epiphytic roots of Anthurium, the delicate thirsty roots of Maranta or even the extremely rot prone roots of cacti and succulents. We truly strive to make everything plug in and play with our mixes, taking all of the hard work and tireless experimentation (at your plants' expense) out of it.

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.