@@lesleymasumoto808 When playing the video for a good minute, hit pause. Then you’ll see a video timeline at the bottom... a line going left to relight with a dot on it. The dot shows where you paused on the timeline and will display how many minutes and seconds you paused at. Drag the dot ore to the right till you see the time displayed to where you want to stop... they click on the video play button. Best to you!
I'm a scrounger. I bought a HUGE amount of pearlite from a local hardware store because the bags were torn open by a passing fork-lift. I have a swamp nearby that I can harvest all of the peat that I can use. Of course, I've been saving compost for years. The only thing I have to buy is fertilizer. To add Calcium to my mix, I buy a bottle of carpenters chalk dust at the big box store (white). I start my plants in free cardboard boxes. When they're ready to plant, I put the whole box in the ground. Diggit!
@@kayBTR I donno...maybe your Neighbor's compost? Seriously, make friends with a little local diner. Provide them with a container, and ask for eggshells, food waste, ect. Works for Me.
We make compost in a plastic tub with a lid. We use leaves, peelings from veggies and fruit, egg shells that have rinsed out, and sometimes tea bags and coffee. Stir weekly.
I couldn't believe how fast my table scraps and cardboard broke down! Without the benefit of worms. There are still some hunks of cardboard but I will probably use it when I go to plant my seedlings in a bed.
Thank you Man, great job! Peat moss is freakin 23 bucks now! It was 13 two years ago. They are starting to mak us pay a premium to grow our own food. All prices are now ridiculous.
THIS. It's crazy that Lowes only carries Perlite in 8 quart containers. Home Depot sells it in 2 cu ft (as of 4/5/24) it costs $26.97 for it. Pete Moss (3 cu ft) at home depot is $23.97. They are for sure trying to make sure people don't garden at home. Thanks Biden! Inflation is crazy.
@@jimbrown341 I have to order my perlite from what used to be ace in the big bag now, peat moss is like you said ridiculous, smh. Not gonna stop us, happy growin friend!
Something I suggest too that I've been doing is keeping a couple five gallon buckets of last year's spent soil to fill a third or half of the pot and putting the new mix on top. If you're growing from seed or starts, they don't really care what's at the bottom. I've been doing that for about three years now and haven't noticed any negative effects
You could compost small chunks of bark, leaves and organic material in the bottom to fill space :) The initial nitrogen release wont bother the roots that are weeks or months away from reaching the bottom. I have also reused soil before, but I watered with a 2 part hydroponic nutrient additive. Which works well. 1/2 and 1/2, also great idea :)
Last year I discovered the joys of making my own planting/potting mix. Now, it's my favorite part of gardening!!! There is something theraputic about getting your hands right down there in the soil! Love it!
@@Art-jl6pt Oh man. I spent 32 years +/- in southeast pit of life, I mean Alabama, and I can't tell you how much I hate fire ants. I wouldn't even try to garden down there. We moved out of there in 2011 up to Kentucky and it's soooo wonderful not having to deal with those demons!
Yucca, is a perennial plant that has extremely tough, fibrous leaves. In fact, the leaf fibers can be and have been used for centuries to make cordage. The roots are high in saponins and can be used as a type of soap. The flowers are edible and the flower stalk, harvested after the flowers have fallen and the stalk is dry, can be used as a spindle in a bow drill friction fire making system. Sorry for the long winded comment.
yucca just happens to be the state flower of new mexico and i believe is in the succulent family. they are native to the high desert but i am in northeast kansas and my neighbor has a beautiful plant that flowers usually after a decent rainfall and occasionally in the winter after a snowfall if the temps don't get too frigid.
One addition I make to any potting soil, whether I buy or make my own, is ground minerals. Most soils are very defficient in minerals any more, so I buy a 5 lb bag of Azomite every couple of years and add a few heaping Tbl to a batch of soil. Really improves the health of my plants, and for edibles, increases the nutritional value. Cheap to add, great for all plants.
No, the soils are not deficient. This has been tested time and again by people who know how to test. Nitrogen is the most sought-after "mineral" and is likely to be deficient but it can be supplied with a small dose of "chemical" fertilizer. Heavily cropped fields can be supplemented easily with small doses of such fertilizer. Ground rock has been found to be ineffective cost-wise.
Best price on perlite is $15 at Ace Hardware giant bag Best price on peat moss is $11 at The Home Depot giant bag Best price on mushroom compost $6 at Ace Hardware. Please don't use cheap compost. It can still be hot or undercomposted.
Thank you for sharing. I didn't think of ACE as a source for compost; good to know, specially since Home Depot's price for "Cutting Edge Compost" is 14.25/cu ft. if you buy a pallet $698.00. I think mushroom compost is even better than this leaves and twigs compost.
Something to keep in mind, Perlite is to help with drainage., Pots that do not have good drainage. If your pots, cups etc have plenty of drainage, vermiculite is what you want to retain water.
Living out in the country and having raised beds to garden in I go through a large amount of potting mix/compost. I find it cheapest to go down to the nearby mulch plant and buy a dump truck load of compost that's mixed with chicken manure for around $20 something a yard. I get 16 yards and let it rot down for at least six months and it's ready for raised beds or pots. You can purchase large sacks of perlite online for less than the small bags at the nurseries if you want to lighten the soil a bit. My winter garden in raised beds has been overflowing with mustards, collards, kale, chard, turnips, and spinach all winter long. I generally add a top dressing of fresh compost and a bit of fertilizer each season to continue to have good harvests.
I spent all last night running numbers to try to figure out how to afford to expanding my garden and felt exactly that - so discouraged and frustrated at the cost! This is amazing. Thank you so much.
I just made this today. It has a nice texture and feels just like the store bought mixes. Menards sells bulk perlite for about $17 now. This is a much better deal than those 8 qt bags. Watering the peat moss worked great. I wish I had known this years ago. I have spent thousands on potting mix over the years too.
Great video, but the first 2 minutes made me chuckle. Repeats "store potting mix is really expensive" and "you can make it yourself much cheaper" like 6 times (exaggeration). But yeah, could literally cut out most of the first 15% of the vid.
I don’t need potting soil right now. But I love this kind of ‘never thought’ subjects’ videos. I will save a lot of money in my future garden project! You’re a true rural King! Thanks!!
I made my own with 1 part sand, 1 part coco coir, 1 part soil, 2 parts compost. I use 2 tablespoons powdered fish fertilizers and 2 tablespoons neem powder. I also use it to start sweet corn seeds and it worked with 99% success rate.
Wow i never heard of coco coir , and i didn’t know u cud buy fish fertilizer either . What did you use sand for was that Asia’s oak kind of plant u were using that for , I’ve been buying Foxfire fix soil and the amount I’d have to buy I’d have to spend and ungodly amount of money
I agree with other commenters that this is a good tutorial. He gets right into and gives you the info you need. Thank you! I will probably come back to this again and again.
This video is more timely than ever with the purchasing power of the dollar going down 12 percent if not more. Thank you for creating this valuable content!
Yucca is a surfactant and a wetting agent. It helps the new soil absorb water and not be so hydrophobic in the beginning. Great video man thank you for the inspiration, getting ready to make a yard or so of mix!
Very well done and informative video. Add/mix a few 'drops' of dishwashing detergent (into a bucket with the water) to the peat moss in order to make it more easily 'wettable'.
Sir, I was heading out tomorrow to get quite a bit of potting soil to make several asparagus beds. You just saved me a goodly sum of $. And earned yourself a sub. Thank you
I bought that black MG organic soil mix, along with others, for $7 - $12 a pop for a total of 12 bags to fill the containers on my 18 sq. ft. balcony. That does not include what I spent on other soil amendments, grow bags, etc. 💰 💰 I will definitely be mixing up my own mix next year and for my upcoming indoor grow tent plans this winter. I will opt for coir instead of peat moss as a personal preference. FYI for those starting up, 1 large soil bag only fit 2 5-gallon grow bags with a little left over. I feel like I should have went with 7-gallon grow bags minimum for my tomato plants though. The 5-gallon buckets seem to have an extra lip that adds space at the top compared to the 'same size' grow bags. I just don't want to be looking at 5-gallon buckets on the regular. My immediate gardening issue now is a rampaging chipmunk dive-bombing itself into the soil of my containers. Like, literally SWIMMING in it headfirst. It's not super destroying or eating anything that is growing really well, but I saw on a Praxxus video that finally offered an explanation - it's actually hiding seeds for the winter. That totally explained why I am having random and confusing seedling growths everywhere. I've been like, was I drunk, I didn't plant that! 😂 I suppose it could be worse.
😂😂 that’s cute, funny, and quite devastating all at the same time. They will want to come back to collect and only lord knows that they will take. Here in dc we have a really bad rat problem and it has stopped me from wanting to garden for 8yrs 😫. FYI, Rats are the only thing that scares me 😖. So I’m going to start this year (seedling are already in progress. I’m just trying to figure out now how I want to fortify the bottoms of my grow beds to prevent burrowing.
@@TriggaTreDay We lay hardware mesh under our raised bed as we build them. And we use cinder block as the frame as wood almost instantly rots here. We can go by a tree stump a year after the tree is cut and kick it. Poof no stump. Metal is going to rust and deteriorate. Will the concrete blocks leach into the soil? Probably, for a while at least. It's the best we have. And, we have no burrowing and the garden is right next to the chicken coop with a lot of rats we are constantly trapping.
@@twillbdone3273 I successfully started my garden right after that post and the wild life actually wasn’t a problem! I was so fearful for no reason. I actually chose to use plastic totes as my raised beds, it was super successful.
I agree. But a lot of DIY works great. You can build greenhouse for very cheap, make your own fertilizer (if you have enough distance cause it stings like hell). Even booster like Triocontanol can be done with alfalfa for cheap. Also I strongly recomand old tomatoes species, those grows easy with big yield and amazing taste. You won't ever buy a tomato from the store ^^
I like that you don't get over complicated with this. Handful of this, handful of that. That's exactly how I'd do it. Thanks for the money saving tip!!!!
Another option is to buy in bulk. I buy a pickup load at a time, 2.5 cubic yards for about $75. A cubic yard has 27 cubic feet, or about 12-15 bags of commercial mix, so it works out to about $2 a bag, and I don't. have to make it myself.
People like to get to fancy with it tbh. Watch some vids on compost will give you a good laugh. Giving you scientific measurements of what to put in it 🤣. All I've ever put in mine is my grass cut clipping and the dead leaves i rake in the winter. I can throw a dead plant in my pile and it will grow back... no science required
@@shanikacollinstaylor really depends how urban your area is, if you're rural/suburban there's almost certainly a gardening center or nursery near you that will have bulk loads for sale on their website. most places will probably be able to arrange a drop off at a good price for you if you speak to them though.
Yucca is the plant material they add for the moisture balls that are in miracle grow soil mixes, they are hard little balls that absorb water and swell up but they breakdown after 1 year or so anyhow.
I USE GROW BAGS FOR MY GARDEN TO SAVE SOME MONEY AND SPACE AND NOW I CAN MAKE MY OWN CONTAINER MIX TO SAVE EVEN MORE MONEY. GREAT IDEA AND THANKS FOR THE VIDEO!!!
Just so u know, peat moss is not a renewable resource and it is extremely harmful t the environment to harvest. Cod coir is much better, does pretty much the same thing but is renewable and much better for the environment.
Thanks for the video. At the risk of being forward, consider some Lilac trees for your generous yard. I've got a line of Lilac bushes next to me, and every spring the smell is utterly fantastic! Step outside and you've got this natural flower smell that's delightful. Several varieties of Lilac Trees, so plenty to choose from including native species. They don't get huge, but depending on the variety maybe small to medium sized, and every spring . . . BA-ZING! . . . flowers like crazy. Anyway, thanks for the video.
Love Lilacs, too. Lived in Rochester, NY as a child, 2 streets away from Highland Park, land of the Lilac Festival. It’s glorious. Went home one year just to visit them in bloom at the festival. I bought my house partly because of the one lovely lilac shrub, and because the yard is deep like back home, (and partly because houses sold by the end of the day, it was a seller’s market) and I still put them in my yard anywhere I can, one had to go in right by my bedroom window. Lovely! Even talked the elderly neighbor lady into letting me plant some along our fence line on her side (my side has the driveway along the fence). We planted them together, and her father had propagated all the other ones she already had in her yard, 55-60 years before. It’s wonderful in the spring! Makes me terribly homesick for NY, but still I love it!
Thanks for the great tips. You have so much grassy area. You could convert much of it to wild flower area/meadow. It supports biodiversity and is a joy to be in when it's abundant with pollinating creatures. ❤
It’s not likely to be an HOA, and no one in their right mind would buy a house with an HOA, unless you live in a massively snowy amd remote area and they plow the roads for you. Grownups don’t tolerate someone bossing them around in their own home. Renters are stuck with a landlord, that’s understandable, but when you buy, you get what you deserve if you buy something with an HOA. It’s like having a babysitter. A nasty, bossy babysitter.
Would be interesting to see the outcome if you were to sow identical seeds at the same time in the homemade and purchased potting soils..... Great video, thanks for the info... :) Fun for the little ones to help too...
You can also make your own compost.... Leaves /grass clippings/ food scraps egg shells/ coffee grounds etc. And worms!!!! I make my own and I live in a condo.....lol
Oh my!! you just saved me so much $$$. I am actually on my way out the door and I saw your video. I watched,.. now I have scratched off my list the potting soil. Thank you,.. just made my gardening experience more fun!!!!
Thank you! I've been looking for this answer for a LONG TIME! That YUCCA, that you said you didn't know what it is? That's a very important ingredient for anybody that uses Peat Moss. It's a wetting agent! It helps it get wet and retain moisture. 1T per gallon of water in a sprayer to cover 100 sq. ft. and then you are supposed to irrigate it for 5-19 minutes when working on dried out compacted soil. I haven't quite worked out how it works in a wheel barrow or other container, but I had tracked down AGAR AGAR as a wetting agent. To dissolve it, according to the label instructions you had to cook it and I didn't like it. It was so sticky! It thickened up like glue. I like to have never gotten it out of my pot! So, once we get moved and I get my raised beds built, I will start experimenting with 1teasp. per gallon of water and add water as necessary to a BALE of Peat Moss.
I tried this with Premier Peat Moss, very similar to what you've done. Premier soiless mix, particular Premier Pro Mix HP was my staple base medium. Great stuff! Perfect pH! Premier Peat Moss with the same, equal amendments that's in their Pro Mix, yet over 10X the price, didn't make sense. So I did what you did. I learned very quickly that fresh Peat Moss, like Premier's, has a pH around 2! Extremely acidic, and dolomite lime, etc made no difference! I used a cheaper brand from Lowes (Parts of Peat containers, recycled Peat, yet being "aged" brings the pH up quite a bit. At least up to a pH of 5-6, which limestone can handle and keep slightly below 7.0pH. Ruined the crop! Premier Pro Mix HP, and Sunshine Mix#4 work incredible, but do cost much more. Incredible stuff though!!! Night and Day! 👍
In recent years, I have been unable to find any "potting soil" which bore any resemblance to soil. This includes the big-name, expensive brands just as much as the cheaper discount store stuff. What it is, in fact, is fairly fine mulch. It contains small sticks and stems, along with what seems to be small hardwood chips of some kind of slow decaying wood. I had some left over in containers from last year which, early this spring, simply looked like old, grayed wood which would be perfect tinder for stating a fire. I am an old fart, old enough to remember potting soil which was wonderful stuff. Today, this so-called "soil" or "potting mix" appears to be small branches which have been run through a chipper. Under ideal conditions, the stuff could be composted and it would eventually become soil, although some of the chips could take a decade to do it.
Make a hole in the ground and drop coffee bananas and any sort melon grounds. When you fill it dig another hole and fill. Mulch with leaves in the fall 6 inches deep the first 3 years. Bingo you got soil.
Yep thoses small branches are a pain in the ass. Not only it reduce roots development but since it's not decomposed already, it will attract unwanted bacterias. But you can filter it. It works fine, but you loose volume, so basicly you spend more money for a given volume.
I'm just starting a garden and I am definitely not known to have a green thumb...quite the opposite. I would like to make my own mix but I feel like I'm taking on too much too early. On the other hand, I would like to make my own mix because I want to be sure that I know exactly what my plants are growing from.
I'm a professional horticulturest for 30+ years. Soil is the most important part of planting. Different plants have different needs. I just googled how to make a good potting soil at home and it seems to have an easy enough recipe that can easily be adjusted to your specific plant needs but it pays off in the long run. Start by looking up the plant/plants to check their drainage needs and ph needs. You might need to add sand or Loam. Peat is acidic so it's good to check and these days you can Google just about anything. Have fun playing in the dirt.
There are many products on the market that can raise or lower the ph in soil. You can find soil acidifiers and garden lime to neutralize acidic soil. They are also organic. You should get a soil ph test kit too. Also check the soil preferences of the plants you want to plant. You can find these at most places that sell plants but Your best bet is a reputable nursery where they are more apt to hire qualified knowledgeable staff in case you have questions. I'm happy to help anytime. The texture of the soil is also important especially for drainage. The most important thing is to have fun. Good luck and God bless
Wow! I'm in Las Vegas and growing here sucks if you don't have raised beds. But after 27 years, I'm moving north to Reno to be closer to family. Yucca is here all over the Las Vegas Valley. I would imagine if that is in the potting soil, then BLM Bureau of Land Management has a hand in it somewhere. You gave me great tips. Thanks for being clear headed and reasonable. I do appreciate it!
I don't see where anyone told you in the comments why yucca is added to soil (and especially organic seed starting mixes). It's an edible starchy root, and it is used in soils as a natural & organic wetting agent FYI.
Happy Frog, 2 cu ft bag, costs around $20-$30 depending on where you get it. If you can make your own leaf mold, that and perlite + peat moss will be really good.
Two more inexpensive but great components are organic alfalfa meal (NOT pellets which are heated/processed) for the growth hormones and malted barley for the enzymes in the compost...
@@misskim2058 you actually don’t want to cook it, that kills all the enzymes you want, just grind it as fine as you can (better yet have wherever u buy it grind it for u...MUCH easier) then apply liberally to your soil
Yucca is a cactus. When I was a kid there was a place at the edge of town that made a product named Liquinox. It was a liquid fertilizer sold in a brown glass bottle. However, another place started up recently that grinds up the yucca pulp. This is confusing to me since you have to buy state cactus tag and jump through hoops to harvest even one cactus in Arizona since they are "protected" I dunno, maybe when they are clearing tracts for developments. Edit for spelling.
Yucca isn't on a protected list but where and when taking desert plants is very sensitive.. but yucca is a root shrub and you can buy it in a lot is grocery stores .
Yucca... prounounced You-ka is an edible root that is absolutely delicious when cooked with olive oil sautéed onions and pinch of salt and garlic. You can find this in the veggies of your grocery store usually around the potatoes. If you have Hispanic grocery stores near you that would be the better place to find them but I’m sure was-mart would have them too.
Thanks for the great ideas on this video. What I am currently doing, to borrow the concept of DIY, is taking Kellogg's Raised bed mix and diluting it by adding in composted manure, some more peat moss, perlite or vermiculite. I also throw in a cup of granular humic acid and a cup of polyester crystals. The humic acid to help the biological life of the soil and the crystals because where I live the summers are really warm to HOT and it never rains in the summer (hardly). It's not as inexpensive as your mix but I get my 2 cuft bag of Raised bed mix and increase it 7 cuft. That will fill three, 15 gallon grow bags instead of just one. I feel that it reduces my per bag start-up cost.
Yucca is saponin. It helps water soak in rather than through. I buy 6$ bottle of human consumption aloe water and water that in and that 6$ will cover a huge garden and inside about 5-10ml per gallon. Saponins are good to help soil absorbed water. People growing in pots know how the water will go right through. With saponins like yucca or aloe or soapnut you not have those issues. Peat is totally hard to get to hold water once dry and that’s why they add those saponins.
Hi Matanuska High. I am new here. I am really interested in the product you mentioned. I wonder if you can share the link to buy this product and how often to use it as well as the ratio between it and water. Very appreciate your reply. Thanks so much!
Nicely done. Farms in my area give away composted manure. The problem is that local commercial operations take all of the better, aged stuff and I am left shoveling the "fresher" stuff. Nasty job, but somebody's got to do it!
The Hot stuff is a mess. But if you can cover it and let it cook and drain the liquid you have the base for some incredible compost tea. Great for watering and spraying. Mix with some unSulphured molasses in a barrel. Add water to cut so it doesn’t burn plants. Throw in a bubbler to aerate the water. And 24 hours later you got some stuff your plants will love
@@Oldcrow77 So true but if you only use a little, it won't burn. Manure tea is wonderful, but you only need a little, only occasionally. It's very high in nitrogen and what nitrogen does is makes the greenery grow fantastic, not necessarily the veggies. The other two main minerals do that.
@@campfireaddict6417 been growing for 30 years Took 1st for best new strain and 3rd overall in cannabis cup many years ago. A good tea is manure, worm casting, molasses as you are actually feeding the microbes in the soil that break the nutrients down and make them available for plant uptake as well as Mycorrhizae Also good to add some azomite to your soil for trace minerals. Lots more going on than N-P-K
if you are needing to fill a lot of pots this is the way to go... but if all you are planning to do is fill like 1 or a couple or something... it will cost you a lot more to buy all these ingredients than it would to buy a bag of soil. so... something to think about. one thing i do is leave old soil from last year in bottom half of pots and top off with new soil.... in my large planters (any that are like 5 gal or bigger). other wise i would be buying absolute tons of soil. might not be the best thing ever to do, but it works out fine for me
Love this video. My great grandfather Melba Moses Wolfenstein used to use this same method when helping the settlers establish life in the new country. Pure nostalgia! Thanks Bravo 6. Also, tell mother I'm well.
happy to see folks showing how to save big time off the premixed in store options I was turned off from buying today. Can't really justify that cost to grow food I can just buy cheaper in the store at that point. However, I'd love to learn how to do this without peat moss since I hear that is not a sustainable practice to mine the peat bogs.
I don’t have the space or money to buy all these things right now, but I’m saving this video for future reference ☺️ this was very helpful, especially the explanation while you were doing everything! Thank you!
You could start with empty containers you have or will have. Like sour cream or cottage cheese containers etc. And a small bag of soil and a pack of seeds. Both available from Dollar & a Coin Tree. It will give you confidence when you're ready to upscale.. Kuddo for wanting to try! Good luck!!
How about almost free potting mix? I take humus from our woods, leaf mold from the edge of our yard, compost from our hot and cold bins, and worm castings from our worm bins and make potting soil.
Yucca is also called cassava or tapioca, depending on the consistency of the version you obtain. Originally, it's a root crop that's very popular in Caribbean and Latin American cooking and baking. At maturity it can be anywhere from 8-20 inches long by 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. The skin is a dark greyish brown and is in 2 layers, with a pinkish inner shin that's thicker and peels easily when the cassava is fresh. The flesh is quite white and starchy and is pleasant and creamy when cooked. It's heavy carb, but gluten-free.
I have some kind of yucca plant I think ...are they invasive as in just start popping up everywhere...Mine never produces flowers though just sharp daggers up and down and don't want to fall on one....They are growing in the shade I wonder if that's why they never flower...I've dug them up but more just show up Lol But are they just composting the whole plant?
@@Sairin13 It's not composted, it is ground up and added as a wetting agent, it retains moisture - Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Soil is just normal stuff with wetting agents like yucca powder added.
saw this after a different video of yours, SO TRUE! at first when starting i figured $12 for this huge bag?! thats so cheap, surely two will be enough....only a few 3gal fabric pots later and i realized how wrong i had been. theres either never enough dirt or way too mich of it in gardening
Great video ! Great recipe ! I buy compost by truckloads from a local supplier, perlite from Midwest Perlite in Appleton WI, peat moss from Menards (or Fleet & Farm, or Home Depot), fertilizer - Blood Meal and Bone Meal - in Menards Still looking for place , besides BFG Supply , that would sell Peat Moss and organic fertilizer in bulk . Please let me know if anyone knows a place around Rockford IL that sells said items. Thanks !
Hello very good video. By teh way YUCA is an edible root grown in the tropic also known as casaba. It is actially a great source of starch. Keep doing this nice videos. GBY
Great video, great info. I think there's two groups , one that will make their own (not only to save money but to make their own recipe) and the other group that wants a quick, all ready made recipe. Thank you again for the breakdown of price!😷
the third group is the one who buys it in bulk, which gives them the same price advantage that mixing your own out of bulk ingredients does; but skips the mixing step.
I also use hoogaculture (spelling?*) but I fill my beds and boxes and pots mostly with all of the leaves, sticks, and bark around my property and use the natural topsoil before adding good soil on top. It's working so far, the only issue may be natural "weeds" that were in the soil...on the other other hand I have a lot of worms working for me for free 😀
Nice job! I started making my own mixes last year and and kicking it up more this year. I bought huge bags of vermiculite and perlite then I will be buying bulk worm castings & peat moss. What I like about DIY mixes is you can add other components that can help with overall soil health.
Hello 👋, Thank you so much for this video. It's just in time for my Brother and I to do this to plant seeds for our Container gardening. I'm a new subscriber and I look forward to watching & learning more from you. Thank you for all you do to prepare and make your videos. May God Bless You and All Your Family ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE ⚘XOXOXO from, Lois in Indiana 👍👍
I work at a planty nursery and the soil we use is just aging pine bark, long release all purpose fertilizer, and maybe some perlite depending on the plants. This is definitely the cheapest option out there and it works great, finding the pine bark is the hard part
@@jessicaveganjessica2208 hardwood mulch obtains moisture too much though, we’ve tried it in potting soil and its always too wet. But for some reason the pine bark with nothing else in it has like perfect draining and creates its own compost
@@collingalloway43 I see. James Prigioni uses wood mulch all over his 10 year old food forest, with great success. His YT channel is The Gardening Channel. He uses a thick (9") layer of wood mulch all over the ground and he uses a thin layer of this mulch on his raised beds. He's in PA, USA. I haven't tried the mulch method myself, but am getting ready to, this year. I do know that we put a 9" layer of wood mulch from pine, sweet gum and other trees and after a couple of years it was only pure, rich soil. All tree mulch will turn into soil because that's how it works in nature, in the woods, when branches and trees fall. I could see that some tree mulch could have different properties, but I am not familiar enough to know them.
@@jessicaveganjessica2208 no this is a great way to do it, thick mulching like that is the best way to get good soil without inoculating and using worms and all that. I was just referring to using it as a potting soil, we only found it too wet in pots, its great otherwise. As for the difference in trees, softwood mulch will make your soil more acidic, where hardwood is pretty neutral. And other than decomposition time and looks theres not much of a difference
Kickass video bra man, I've been researching this for a while and this makes thing much more clear. I'm still trying to figure out the composting thing. So many people contradict each other on the composting thing.
Yucca is a root plant. It grows underground. It’s kind of like a potato but it’s not a potato, just in the sense that it grows underground and is edible.
Yucca is a plant that lives in desert dry areas and contains a high amount of saponins. Saponins help after tension. Peat is hard to get to absorbed water if dry and saponins help that and also help microbes
They do not like a lot of water or they die..so water the heck out them if you don't like them or move to a neglected dry spot where they will thrive. The blooms are lovely.
Also they have something called saponins in the leaves and roots. Basically natural soap. Just mash, add a bit of water, and you’ve got suds. Great for a natural shampoo(won’t be foamy, but it gets out the dirt and grease). Extremely gentle on skin and fabric.
I reuse as much dirt as possible except for certain pepper plants that I bought some Fox Farm Happy Frog for. Perhaps when I retire I'll spend the extra time making my own soil for my pots but right now I just like to grab a bag here and there and plant.
I have used coconut coir instead of peat moss for a few years. The peat moss is environmentally problematic, and coir makes my vegetables very happy. Coir is essentially dried coconut husks. It costs more than peat moss, however.
I have a shed dedicated to mixing soils and use a small 5 gallon cement mixer to mix potting soil and garden soil to use in my greenhouses and in my gardens. I use 2 gallons composted soil, one gallon coir, 1/2 gallon perlite, 1/2 gallon worm castings fertilizer and it makes 4 gallons of mix. During winter I will mix 200 - 250+ gallons of soil and store in 5 gallons buckets until I need the soil in early spring. I purchase materials in bulk quantities and buy the dump truck load or full pallets of bagged products which keeps my materials cost down.
Yucca shidigera is a cactus plant. The extract is a wetting, foaming agent. Used in everything from food products to dish soap. It makes water wetter. Great for watering in plants so you don’t have dry pockets. Also for mixing in your sprayer to make your spraying agent to spread in spray better. Along with things like molasses. Compost teas Epsom salt. There are lots of products. That cost very little and are not petro chemical crap to grow your food with.
I think yucca (a sort of cactus) might be used instead of coco coir. Haven't used it in gardening myself, but I am familiar with the plant. It's rather fibrous, not sure how it compares to coco but I suspect it is similar in a gardening application.
Can I use Black Kow as the compost? Or what is the exact brand of compost you use? This is what I plan to use.. + (2 Part) Sunshine Sphagnum Peat Moss + (2 Part) Black Kow Organic Composted Cow Manure + (1 Part) Vigoro Organic Perlite Soil Amedment + (1 Handful) Epsoma Organic Garden Tone Herb and Vegetable Fertilizer Does that sound about right? Also, what are your thoughts on 10-20-10 fertilizers? My mom has always used 10-20-10 but she never understood it either.. it's just what my uncle told her to use. I'm a brand new gardener so all of this is new to me. I'm also planning on doing most of the gardening in grow bags because I think it might cost too much to buy all the stuff to make raised beds. What are your thoughts? Thank you!! 😁
@@nnoble92 Wow I'm excited! You've just made my day! You are the very first youtuber who has everrrrr replied! Feels like talking to a celebrity haha lol 😁 Most people all they care about is just getting their videos out .. getting views and that's mostly it. But I think the ones who truly care are the ones who actually take the time to read and reply. ❤ Please keep doing what you do, you're awesome! Thank you Bravo 6 Gardener!! 😄🤗
Just a tip for those who are fighting little gnats and small flies. Often the compost is infested with these little pests, and they are so annoying that they sometimes make gardening less than pleasant. I put a little granular "Mosquito pellets" in my mix and it kills the larvae. It doesn't hurt earthworms, I've checked with the manufacturer.
@Ladyboywonder so how exactly did we get to this point... silliness grow food, reduce pests. Study, learn and don't be so stubborn to say say all chemicals are bad... many chemicals are found in the so called organic treatments.... sigh. But chemicals bad.... eyeroll.
My favorite base is a modified version of a "best mix" I found in a university of Kansas at extension website years ago. Theirs was pear moss, composted cow manure and builders sand. Mine replaces coco coir for the peat moss. I prefer coir because it is more ph neutral than peat moss. I personally dislike perlite and vermiculite. You can change the ratios of coir/peat and sand instead to change water retention or drainage and aeration, etc. I usually sift each through a coarse screen to keep larger pebbles, gravel, twigs and stray junk out and to help the mix open up and breathe. After that you can tailor the mix anyway you like. Greensand. Egg shells, coffee grounds, Epsom salt, molasses, chicken bones, bat guano, whatever you like for whatever plant you're growing.
Go straight to @2:23 for the recipe.
thanks
THANKS!
👍👍
How do i do that?
Just input it into text box?
-no tech -know savvy
@@lesleymasumoto808 When playing the video for a good minute, hit pause. Then you’ll see a video timeline at the bottom... a line going left to relight with a dot on it. The dot shows where you paused on the timeline and will display how many minutes and seconds you paused at. Drag the dot ore to the right till you see the time displayed to where you want to stop... they click on the video play button. Best to you!
Not reinventing the wheel but there's always new bees such as myself and I appreciate this video more than you could imagine.
buzz buzz. :)
Newbie
I dig the garden pun about new bees.
@@justinburgan4184 what's a garden?? 🐝🐝🐝🐝
I'm a scrounger. I bought a HUGE amount of pearlite from a local hardware store because the bags
were torn open by a passing fork-lift. I have a swamp nearby that I can harvest all of the peat that
I can use. Of course, I've been saving compost for years.
The only thing I have to buy is fertilizer. To add Calcium to my mix, I buy a bottle of carpenters
chalk dust at the big box store (white). I start my plants in free cardboard boxes. When they're ready
to plant, I put the whole box in the ground. Diggit!
Good input! I have lots of cardboard boxes as well…I’d love to have a swamp nearby…but alas, I do not.
What would a substitute be for compost?
@@kayBTR I donno...maybe your Neighbor's compost? Seriously, make friends with a little local diner. Provide them with a container, and ask for eggshells, food waste, ect. Works for Me.
how we can make perlite at home 😢 everything is so expensive
@@cppc7308 Thanks, Joe Brandon!
We make compost in a plastic tub with a lid. We use leaves, peelings from veggies and fruit, egg shells that have rinsed out, and sometimes tea bags and coffee. Stir weekly.
Amen🌷
I couldn't believe how fast my table scraps and cardboard broke down! Without the benefit of worms. There are still some hunks of cardboard but I will probably use it when I go to plant my seedlings in a bed.
Is the ink for cardboard a problem, like is it toxic ?
@@chrisryan8894cardboard with the shine is toxic. But cardboard with little ink should be degradable.
Thank you Man, great job! Peat moss is freakin 23 bucks now! It was 13 two years ago. They are starting to mak us pay a premium to grow our own food. All prices are now ridiculous.
THIS. It's crazy that Lowes only carries Perlite in 8 quart containers. Home Depot sells it in 2 cu ft (as of 4/5/24) it costs $26.97 for it. Pete Moss (3 cu ft) at home depot is $23.97. They are for sure trying to make sure people don't garden at home. Thanks Biden! Inflation is crazy.
@@jimbrown341 I have to order my perlite from what used to be ace in the big bag now, peat moss is like you said ridiculous, smh. Not gonna stop us, happy growin friend!
Let's go Brandon.
Use coco coir instead.
@@ceeemm1901not cheap either
Great job filming during an earthquake!
Show me your vids so I can roast you
😂
Omg I’m crying bro
Ha ha ha
Hahaha..🤣🤣🤣
Something I suggest too that I've been doing is keeping a couple five gallon buckets of last year's spent soil to fill a third or half of the pot and putting the new mix on top. If you're growing from seed or starts, they don't really care what's at the bottom. I've been doing that for about three years now and haven't noticed any negative effects
You could compost small chunks of bark, leaves and organic material in the bottom to fill space :) The initial nitrogen release wont bother the roots that are weeks or months away from reaching the bottom. I have also reused soil before, but I watered with a 2 part hydroponic nutrient additive. Which works well. 1/2 and 1/2, also great idea :)
Sounds good to me, last year I paid fifteen dollars for a bag ,pretty sure the price will be more this year
Do you use this soil for nightshades?
@@Anne--Marie Sure you can.
Last year I discovered the joys of making my own planting/potting mix. Now, it's my favorite part of gardening!!! There is something theraputic about getting your hands right down there in the soil! Love it!
you get over it after fire ants attack you and a couple of times- then you buy and use gloves
@@Art-jl6pt Oh man. I spent 32 years +/- in southeast pit of life, I mean Alabama, and I can't tell you how much I hate fire ants. I wouldn't even try to garden down there. We moved out of there in 2011 up to Kentucky and it's soooo wonderful not having to deal with those demons!
Yucca, is a perennial plant that has extremely tough, fibrous leaves. In fact, the leaf fibers can be and have been used for centuries to make cordage. The roots are high in saponins and can be used as a type of soap. The flowers are edible and the flower stalk, harvested after the flowers have fallen and the stalk is dry, can be used as a spindle in a bow drill friction fire making system. Sorry for the long winded comment.
yucca just happens to be the state flower of new mexico and i believe is in the succulent family. they are native to the high desert but i am in northeast kansas and my neighbor has a beautiful plant that flowers usually after a decent rainfall and occasionally in the winter after a snowfall if the temps don't get too frigid.
Saponin will act as wetting agent while the rest sounds like a decent additive to the growing medium
the leaves are also SUPER pointy, I've run into this plant while hiking and ended up needing a bandaid.
Yucca is added for a wedding agent so the soil doesn't become hydrophobic or at least for a little while
1. Peat moss : $.45 : 2 parts
2. Compost : $.08 : 2 parts
3. Perlite : $.20 : 1 part
4. Fertilizer : $.05 : hand full
One addition I make to any potting soil, whether I buy or make my own, is ground minerals. Most soils are very defficient in minerals any more, so I buy a 5 lb bag of Azomite every couple of years and add a few heaping Tbl to a batch of soil. Really improves the health of my plants, and for edibles, increases the nutritional value. Cheap to add, great for all plants.
Only a tablespoon?
Yeah agreed! I would just replace the perlite with a natural mineral; pumice or crushed lava.
Never heard of it. Will have to look into that. Thank you.
No, the soils are not deficient. This has been tested time and again by people who know how to test. Nitrogen is the most sought-after "mineral" and is likely to be deficient but it can be supplied with a small dose of "chemical" fertilizer. Heavily cropped fields can be supplemented easily with small doses of such fertilizer. Ground rock has been found to be ineffective cost-wise.
@@baddoggie101 cutting out the soil food web with chemical fertilizers is foolish and will result with subpar products
Best price on perlite is $15 at Ace Hardware giant bag
Best price on peat moss is $11 at The Home Depot giant bag
Best price on mushroom compost $6 at Ace Hardware.
Please don't use cheap compost. It can still be hot or undercomposted.
Thank you!!!!🇺🇸🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thank you for sharing. I didn't think of ACE as a source for compost; good to know, specially since Home Depot's price for "Cutting Edge Compost" is 14.25/cu ft. if you buy a pallet $698.00. I think mushroom compost is even better than this leaves and twigs compost.
I wish I saw your post 2 weeks ago lol I already bought my stuff
I tried several Ace Hardware stores (online) and found nothing but a small 8 qt bag for $5.99.
@@alexadams6920 I don't know about online. But in store at my Ace a bag with about 3-4 cu ft is $15. Florida
Something to keep in mind, Perlite is to help with drainage., Pots that do not have good drainage. If your pots, cups etc have plenty of drainage, vermiculite is what you want to retain water.
I use both lol.
So… Ive just built a small above ground garden, will have tomatoes, peppers, and so misc.. so I use either?
So no bags of real top soil mixed in?
Yeah, you can yes. Though I get my soil from the woods in small amounts. Free and already naturally composted. @@gloriahall4394
Living out in the country and having raised beds to garden in I go through a large amount of potting mix/compost. I find it cheapest to go down to the nearby mulch plant and buy a dump truck load of compost that's mixed with chicken manure for around $20 something a yard. I get 16 yards and let it rot down for at least six months and it's ready for raised beds or pots. You can purchase large sacks of perlite online for less than the small bags at the nurseries if you want to lighten the soil a bit. My winter garden in raised beds has been overflowing with mustards, collards, kale, chard, turnips, and spinach all winter long. I generally add a top dressing of fresh compost and a bit of fertilizer each season to continue to have good harvests.
I spent all last night running numbers to try to figure out how to afford to expanding my garden and felt exactly that - so discouraged and frustrated at the cost! This is amazing. Thank you so much.
Also buy when on sale. Save money for just that. I did that last year, and it helped a lot.
I just made this today. It has a nice texture and feels just like the store bought mixes. Menards sells bulk perlite for about $17 now. This is a much better deal than those 8 qt bags. Watering the peat moss worked great. I wish I had known this years ago. I have spent thousands on potting mix over the years too.
That's how Lowes and Home Depot make their money!! My neighbor and I give them lots of money every year...even when we promise not to!!! lol
This is the most "straight to it" video on making homemade potting mix. Thank you, this is really helpful.
Great video, but the first 2 minutes made me chuckle. Repeats "store potting mix is really expensive" and "you can make it yourself much cheaper" like 6 times (exaggeration). But yeah, could literally cut out most of the first 15% of the vid.
Maybe all the other videos he's seen has been worse than this, and he's technically correct?
I don’t need potting soil right now. But I love this kind of ‘never thought’ subjects’ videos. I will save a lot of money in my future garden project! You’re a true rural King! Thanks!!
👍👌🥕😎
I made my own with 1 part sand, 1 part coco coir, 1 part soil, 2 parts compost. I use 2 tablespoons powdered fish fertilizers and 2 tablespoons neem powder. I also use it to start sweet corn seeds and it worked with 99% success rate.
I like that you don't use peat moss!
Wow i never heard of coco coir , and i didn’t know u cud buy fish fertilizer either . What did you use sand for was that Asia’s oak kind of plant u were using that for , I’ve been buying Foxfire fix soil and the amount I’d have to buy I’d have to spend and ungodly amount of money
Why neem powder? You're killing all the good microbes in the soil!
@@NJGardengirl1961 It only kills nematodes and pathogens in the soil
@@Yaqeen2013 Neem kills nematodes? I use liquid for topical pests- still add to soil you think?
I found that bag of potting mix in late summer for a buck each at Wally world. I snatched 12 of them and they'll be used for my winter sowing
Score!
Ive heard of deals like that too in late fall but I am always too late :)
To mix a large batch, I layered the ingredients on a tarp and dragged one corner at a time over the mix until it all rolled to the opposite corner. .
I agree with other commenters that this is a good tutorial. He gets right into and gives you the info you need. Thank you! I will probably come back to this again and again.
This video is more timely than ever with the purchasing power of the dollar going down 12 percent if not more. Thank you for creating this valuable content!
Thank you so much for this knowledge. Potting soil is very expensive and this will help to make gardening more affordable.
Yucca is a surfactant and a wetting agent. It helps the new soil absorb water and not be so hydrophobic in the beginning. Great video man thank you for the inspiration, getting ready to make a yard or so of mix!
Awesome!! Thanks
Very well done and informative video.
Add/mix a few 'drops' of dishwashing detergent (into a bucket with the water) to the peat moss in order to make it more easily 'wettable'.
Sir, I was heading out tomorrow to get quite a bit of potting soil to make several asparagus beds. You just saved me a goodly sum of $. And earned yourself a sub. Thank you
I bought that black MG organic soil mix, along with others, for $7 - $12 a pop for a total of 12 bags to fill the containers on my 18 sq. ft. balcony. That does not include what I spent on other soil amendments, grow bags, etc. 💰 💰
I will definitely be mixing up my own mix next year and for my upcoming indoor grow tent plans this winter. I will opt for coir instead of peat moss as a personal preference.
FYI for those starting up, 1 large soil bag only fit 2 5-gallon grow bags with a little left over. I feel like I should have went with 7-gallon grow bags minimum for my tomato plants though.
The 5-gallon buckets seem to have an extra lip that adds space at the top compared to the 'same size' grow bags. I just don't want to be looking at 5-gallon buckets on the regular.
My immediate gardening issue now is a rampaging chipmunk dive-bombing itself into the soil of my containers. Like, literally SWIMMING in it headfirst.
It's not super destroying or eating anything that is growing really well, but I saw on a Praxxus video that finally offered an explanation - it's actually hiding seeds for the winter.
That totally explained why I am having random and confusing seedling growths everywhere. I've been like, was I drunk, I didn't plant that! 😂
I suppose it could be worse.
This comment made my day.
I have chipmunks too but they’re tearing up in ground and raised beds that’s wild that they’re getting into your containers.
😂😂 that’s cute, funny, and quite devastating all at the same time. They will want to come back to collect and only lord knows that they will take.
Here in dc we have a really bad rat problem and it has stopped me from wanting to garden for 8yrs 😫. FYI, Rats are the only thing that scares me 😖. So I’m going to start this year (seedling are already in progress. I’m just trying to figure out now how I want to fortify the bottoms of my grow beds to prevent burrowing.
@@TriggaTreDay We lay hardware mesh under our raised bed as we build them. And we use cinder block as the frame as wood almost instantly rots here. We can go by a tree stump a year after the tree is cut and kick it. Poof no stump. Metal is going to rust and deteriorate. Will the concrete blocks leach into the soil? Probably, for a while at least. It's the best we have. And, we have no burrowing and the garden is right next to the chicken coop with a lot of rats we are constantly trapping.
@@twillbdone3273 I successfully started my garden right after that post and the wild life actually wasn’t a problem! I was so fearful for no reason. I actually chose to use plastic totes as my raised beds, it was super successful.
Thank you for saving me A TON of money. Getting started with gardening is terribly expensive.
I agree. But a lot of DIY works great. You can build greenhouse for very cheap, make your own fertilizer (if you have enough distance cause it stings like hell). Even booster like Triocontanol can be done with alfalfa for cheap. Also I strongly recomand old tomatoes species, those grows easy with big yield and amazing taste. You won't ever buy a tomato from the store ^^
Anyone else watching this in 2024 and having sticker shock at the prices vs what he said?
Was like ahh lemme just see this reasonably priced peat moss....$78... 💀
Vote democrat and watch the prices go up!!!!
@@candiwells4607 I don't think that the Reps are that much more sympathetic to gardeners....especially when they thrive more on capitalism.
@@frugmit’s functionally cheaper to just buy pre-mix at your garden center now 🤔
@@ceeemm1901I see you are on TH-cam, with your phone? I love capitalism
I like that you don't get over complicated with this. Handful of this, handful of that. That's exactly how I'd do it. Thanks for the money saving tip!!!!
Another option is to buy in bulk. I buy a pickup load at a time, 2.5 cubic yards for about $75. A cubic yard has 27 cubic feet, or about 12-15 bags of commercial mix, so it works out to about $2 a bag, and I don't. have to make it myself.
People like to get to fancy with it tbh. Watch some vids on compost will give you a good laugh. Giving you scientific measurements of what to put in it 🤣.
All I've ever put in mine is my grass cut clipping and the dead leaves i rake in the winter. I can throw a dead plant in my pile and it will grow back... no science required
Where did you buy a pickup load?
@@shanikacollinstaylor really depends how urban your area is, if you're rural/suburban there's almost certainly a gardening center or nursery near you that will have bulk loads for sale on their website. most places will probably be able to arrange a drop off at a good price for you if you speak to them though.
Yucca is the plant material they add for the moisture balls that are in miracle grow soil mixes, they are hard little balls that absorb water and swell up but they breakdown after 1 year or so anyhow.
I USE GROW BAGS FOR MY GARDEN TO SAVE SOME MONEY AND SPACE AND NOW I CAN MAKE MY OWN CONTAINER MIX TO SAVE EVEN MORE MONEY. GREAT IDEA AND THANKS FOR THE VIDEO!!!
Aldi bags make great grow bags.
How did it go?
@@carissam8718 my garden was wonderful and my veggies and fruit turned out perfectly!!!!!!
Thank you!!! I am a beginner so I am excited to start making the soil with your recipe.
2 parts of composted
2 parts of peatmoss
1 part of perlite
1 handful fertilizer
composted... what?
@@AtlantaTerry Compost. Just compost.
As long as it’s raising canes yes lol
@@nnoble92 2
Just so u know, peat moss is not a renewable resource and it is extremely harmful t the environment to harvest. Cod coir is much better, does pretty much the same thing but is renewable and much better for the environment.
Thanks for the video. At the risk of being forward, consider some Lilac trees for your generous yard. I've got a line of Lilac bushes next to me, and every spring the smell is utterly fantastic! Step outside and you've got this natural flower smell that's delightful.
Several varieties of Lilac Trees, so plenty to choose from including native species. They don't get huge, but depending on the variety maybe small to medium sized, and every spring . . . BA-ZING! . . . flowers like crazy.
Anyway, thanks for the video.
Love Lilacs, too. Lived in Rochester, NY as a child, 2 streets away from Highland Park, land of the Lilac Festival. It’s glorious. Went home one year just to visit them in bloom at the festival. I bought my house partly because of the one lovely lilac shrub, and because the yard is deep like back home, (and partly because houses sold by the end of the day, it was a seller’s market) and I still put them in my yard anywhere I can, one had to go in right by my bedroom window. Lovely! Even talked the elderly neighbor lady into letting me plant some along our fence line on her side (my side has the driveway along the fence). We planted them together, and her father had propagated all the other ones she already had in her yard, 55-60 years before. It’s wonderful in the spring! Makes me terribly homesick for NY, but still I love it!
Yucca is a succulent plant native to the Americas. It is used as a water retainer/conditioner in potting soils.
Me... I'm sure someone in the comments knows what yucca is... top comment...this!
Good to know. I made it Yucky and figured it was similar
potgrowers even know what yucca is :'(
Are you just letting the whole plant break down or what?
Thanks for the great tips.
You have so much grassy area. You could convert much of it to wild flower area/meadow. It supports biodiversity and is a joy to be in when it's abundant with pollinating creatures. ❤
Some neighborhoods won't allow that, especially if you have a HOA.
It’s not likely to be an HOA, and no one in their right mind would buy a house with an HOA, unless you live in a massively snowy amd remote area and they plow the roads for you. Grownups don’t tolerate someone bossing them around in their own home. Renters are stuck with a landlord, that’s understandable, but when you buy, you get what you deserve if you buy something with an HOA. It’s like having a babysitter. A nasty, bossy babysitter.
@@misskim2058 Vindictive, too.
@@misskim2058 I agree. Having an HOA means you pay a monthly fee for the privilege of fighting with your power-tripping neighbors!
Would be interesting to see the outcome if you were to sow identical seeds at the same time in the homemade and purchased potting soils..... Great video, thanks for the info... :) Fun for the little ones to help too...
You can also make your own compost....
Leaves /grass clippings/ food scraps egg shells/ coffee grounds etc. And worms!!!! I make my own and I live in a condo.....lol
I am so excited, found a green compost place in the next town that will sell by the truck load and a farmer is going to give me some manure.
You can also check your local Waste Management facility as well, they usually do composting at the city dump, they also do by the truck load..
Oh my!! you just saved me so much $$$. I am actually on my way out the door and I saw your video. I watched,.. now I have scratched off my list the potting soil. Thank you,.. just made my gardening experience more fun!!!!
Glad to hear!! 🌟🌟
Thank you! I've been looking for this answer for a LONG TIME!
That YUCCA, that you said you didn't know what it is? That's a very important ingredient for anybody that uses Peat Moss. It's a wetting agent! It helps it get wet and retain moisture.
1T per gallon of water in a sprayer to cover 100 sq. ft. and then you are supposed to irrigate it for 5-19 minutes when working on dried out compacted soil.
I haven't quite worked out how it works in a wheel barrow or other container, but I had tracked down AGAR AGAR as a wetting agent. To dissolve it, according to the label instructions you had to cook it and I didn't like it. It was so sticky! It thickened up like glue. I like to have never gotten it out of my pot!
So, once we get moved and I get my raised beds built, I will start experimenting with 1teasp. per gallon of water and add water as necessary to a BALE of Peat Moss.
Let us know,please
@@IntegrityandKarma This worked wonderfully well for wetting my seed starting mix. I used 1 teaspoon in a gallon of water.
I tried this with Premier Peat Moss, very similar to what you've done. Premier soiless mix, particular Premier Pro Mix HP was my staple base medium. Great stuff! Perfect pH!
Premier Peat Moss with the same, equal amendments that's in their Pro Mix, yet over 10X the price, didn't make sense. So I did what you did.
I learned very quickly that fresh Peat Moss, like Premier's, has a pH around 2! Extremely acidic, and dolomite lime, etc made no difference!
I used a cheaper brand from Lowes (Parts of Peat containers, recycled Peat, yet being "aged" brings the pH up quite a bit. At least up to a pH of 5-6, which limestone can handle and keep slightly below 7.0pH.
Ruined the crop! Premier Pro Mix HP, and Sunshine Mix#4 work incredible, but do cost much more.
Incredible stuff though!!!
Night and Day! 👍
In recent years, I have been unable to find any "potting soil" which bore any resemblance to soil. This includes the big-name, expensive brands just as much as the cheaper discount store stuff. What it is, in fact, is fairly fine mulch. It contains small sticks and stems, along with what seems to be small hardwood chips of some kind of slow decaying wood. I had some left over in containers from last year which, early this spring, simply looked like old, grayed wood which would be perfect tinder for stating a fire.
I am an old fart, old enough to remember potting soil which was wonderful stuff. Today, this so-called "soil" or "potting mix" appears to be small branches which have been run through a chipper. Under ideal conditions, the stuff could be composted and it would eventually become soil, although some of the chips could take a decade to do it.
There is a big difference between potting soil and potting mix
Make a hole in the ground and drop coffee bananas and any sort melon grounds. When you fill it dig another hole and fill. Mulch with leaves in the fall 6 inches deep the first 3 years. Bingo you got soil.
I absolutely agree with you @mothman1967
Yep thoses small branches are a pain in the ass. Not only it reduce roots development but since it's not decomposed already, it will attract unwanted bacterias. But you can filter it. It works fine, but you loose volume, so basicly you spend more money for a given volume.
@@gokuzawa268 powdered stinging nettle
I'm just starting a garden and I am definitely not known to have a green thumb...quite the opposite. I would like to make my own mix but I feel like I'm taking on too much too early. On the other hand, I would like to make my own mix because I want to be sure that I know exactly what my plants are growing from.
I'm a professional horticulturest for 30+ years. Soil is the most important part of planting. Different plants have different needs. I just googled how to make a good potting soil at home and it seems to have an easy enough recipe that can easily be adjusted to your specific plant needs but it pays off in the long run. Start by looking up the plant/plants to check their drainage needs and ph needs. You might need to add sand or Loam. Peat is acidic so it's good to check and these days you can Google just about anything. Have fun playing in the dirt.
I think it's a good way to learn what grows best in which mix... study well, learn much!
@@foxxy-tk1oz How can you change the PH level fast and easy for different kinds of plants, like you said???? safely
There are many products on the market that can raise or lower the ph in soil. You can find soil acidifiers and garden lime to neutralize acidic soil. They are also organic. You should get a soil ph test kit too. Also check the soil preferences of the plants you want to plant. You can find these at most places that sell plants but Your best bet is a reputable nursery where they are more apt to hire qualified knowledgeable staff in case you have questions. I'm happy to help anytime. The texture of the soil is also important especially for drainage. The most important thing is to have fun. Good luck and God bless
@@foxxy-tk1oz I know but they arnt safe and take forever to work.. They kill all the good fellows in the ground
Thanks
This video was right on time, I was about to buy a bunch of potting mix online
Wow! I'm in Las Vegas and growing here sucks if you don't have raised beds. But after 27 years, I'm moving north to Reno to be closer to family. Yucca is here all over the Las Vegas Valley. I would imagine if that is in the potting soil, then BLM Bureau of Land Management has a hand in it somewhere. You gave me great tips. Thanks for being clear headed and reasonable. I do appreciate it!
I don't see where anyone told you in the comments why yucca is added to soil (and especially organic seed starting mixes). It's an edible starchy root, and it is used in soils as a natural & organic wetting agent FYI.
Happy Frog, 2 cu ft bag, costs around $20-$30 depending on where you get it.
If you can make your own leaf mold, that and perlite + peat moss will be really good.
Leaf mold = black gold! 👍
I agree!!
Chop/Mower mulch them in the fall & let them sit in a pile for a while!!
Two more inexpensive but great components are organic alfalfa meal (NOT pellets which are heated/processed) for the growth hormones and malted barley for the enzymes in the compost...
Where can one get alfalfa meal? Or rice meal??
Oh, ya, I remember that now. Malted barley after making beer, toss that in the mix. I forgot all about it.
@@misskim2058 you actually don’t want to cook it, that kills all the enzymes you want, just grind it as fine as you can (better yet have wherever u buy it grind it for u...MUCH easier) then apply liberally to your soil
Yucca is a cactus. When I was a kid there was a place at the edge of town that made a product named Liquinox. It was a liquid fertilizer sold in a brown glass bottle. However, another place started up recently that grinds up the yucca pulp. This is confusing to me since you have to buy state cactus tag and jump through hoops to harvest even one cactus in Arizona since they are "protected" I dunno, maybe when they are clearing tracts for developments.
Edit for spelling.
Yucca isn't on a protected list but where and when taking desert plants is very sensitive.. but yucca is a root shrub and you can buy it in a lot is grocery stores .
Yucca... prounounced You-ka is an edible root that is absolutely delicious when cooked with olive oil sautéed onions and pinch of salt and garlic. You can find this in the veggies of your grocery store usually around the potatoes. If you have Hispanic grocery stores near you that would be the better place to find them but I’m sure was-mart would have them too.
Thank you! I’ve been so searching for a simple soil recipe for a few days and finally I found it.
Glad to have helped 👍😀
Thanks for the great ideas on this video. What I am currently doing, to borrow the concept of DIY, is taking Kellogg's Raised bed mix and diluting it by adding in composted manure, some more peat moss, perlite or vermiculite. I also throw in a cup of granular humic acid and a cup of polyester crystals. The humic acid to help the biological life of the soil and the crystals because where I live the summers are really warm to HOT and it never rains in the summer (hardly). It's not as inexpensive as your mix but I get my 2 cuft bag of Raised bed mix and increase it 7 cuft. That will fill three, 15 gallon grow bags instead of just one. I feel that it reduces my per bag start-up cost.
Yucca is the state plant of New Mexico!! You’ve probably seen one before, you just didn’t realize it was a Yucca:) They’re giant, beautiful plants!!!
Yucca is saponin. It helps water soak in rather than through. I buy 6$ bottle of human consumption aloe water and water that in and that 6$ will cover a huge garden and inside about 5-10ml per gallon. Saponins are good to help soil absorbed water. People growing in pots know how the water will go right through. With saponins like yucca or aloe or soapnut you not have those issues. Peat is totally hard to get to hold water once dry and that’s why they add those saponins.
Learn something new every day, thanks!!
Hi Matanuska High. I am new here. I am really interested in the product you mentioned. I wonder if you can share the link to buy this product and how often to use it as well as the ratio between it and water. Very appreciate your reply. Thanks so much!
Thank you, that’s helpful to know. 😊
You are awesome, sir! I will be using this recipe for my garden this year.
I read yucca and aloe is added to water to help hydrate the peat moss.
Nicely done. Farms in my area give away composted manure. The problem is that local commercial operations take all of the better, aged stuff and I am left shoveling the "fresher" stuff. Nasty job, but somebody's got to do it!
The Hot stuff is a mess. But if you can cover it and let it cook and drain the liquid you have the base for some incredible compost tea. Great for watering and spraying.
Mix with some unSulphured molasses in a barrel. Add water to cut so it doesn’t burn plants. Throw in a bubbler to aerate the water. And 24 hours later you got some stuff your plants will love
@@Oldcrow77 So true but if you only use a little, it won't burn. Manure tea is wonderful, but you only need a little, only occasionally. It's very high in nitrogen and what nitrogen does is makes the greenery grow fantastic, not necessarily the veggies. The other two main minerals do that.
@@campfireaddict6417 been growing for 30 years
Took 1st for best new strain and 3rd overall in cannabis cup many years ago. A good tea is manure, worm casting, molasses as you are actually feeding the microbes in the soil that break the nutrients down and make them available for plant uptake as well as Mycorrhizae Also good to add some azomite to your soil for trace minerals. Lots more going on than
N-P-K
Shoveled my share of shit. Mostly bullshit.
if you are needing to fill a lot of pots this is the way to go... but if all you are planning to do is fill like 1 or a couple or something... it will cost you a lot more to buy all these ingredients than it would to buy a bag of soil. so... something to think about. one thing i do is leave old soil from last year in bottom half of pots and top off with new soil.... in my large planters (any that are like 5 gal or bigger). other wise i would be buying absolute tons of soil. might not be the best thing ever to do, but it works out fine for me
Love this video. My great grandfather Melba Moses Wolfenstein used to use this same method when helping the settlers establish life in the new country. Pure nostalgia! Thanks Bravo 6.
Also, tell mother I'm well.
I’ll send warm regards to mother.
happy to see folks showing how to save big time off the premixed in store options I was turned off from buying today. Can't really justify that cost to grow food I can just buy cheaper in the store at that point. However, I'd love to learn how to do this without peat moss since I hear that is not a sustainable practice to mine the peat bogs.
I don’t have the space or money to buy all these things right now, but I’m saving this video for future reference ☺️ this was very helpful, especially the explanation while you were doing everything! Thank you!
Glad you learned something!!
I priced out all the stuff for my own recipe I found somewhere else, it we $54, but whenI weren’t to buy it it was like $20
You could start with empty containers you have or will have. Like sour cream or cottage cheese containers etc. And a small bag of soil and a pack of seeds. Both available from Dollar & a Coin Tree. It will give you confidence when you're ready to upscale.. Kuddo for wanting to try! Good luck!!
How about almost free potting mix? I take humus from our woods, leaf mold from the edge of our yard, compost from our hot and cold bins, and worm castings from our worm bins and make potting soil.
Yucca is also called cassava or tapioca, depending on the consistency of the version you obtain. Originally, it's a root crop that's very popular in Caribbean and Latin American cooking and baking. At maturity it can be anywhere from 8-20 inches long by 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. The skin is a dark greyish brown and is in 2 layers, with a pinkish inner shin that's thicker and peels easily when the cassava is fresh. The flesh is quite white and starchy and is pleasant and creamy when cooked. It's heavy carb, but gluten-free.
I knew a lady gardener once. She had a great pair of cassavas.
@@bajamerica Sounds like something different, but who am I to know...
I have some kind of yucca plant I think ...are they invasive as in just start popping up everywhere...Mine never produces flowers though just sharp daggers up and down and don't want to fall on one....They are growing in the shade I wonder if that's why they never flower...I've dug them up but more just show up Lol But are they just composting the whole plant?
I've seen bags of compost that list the ingredient as "Yucca Root Powder" so they're at least composting that.
@@Sairin13 It's not composted, it is ground up and added as a wetting agent, it retains moisture - Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Soil is just normal stuff with wetting agents like yucca powder added.
saw this after a different video of yours, SO TRUE! at first when starting i figured $12 for this huge bag?! thats so cheap, surely two will be enough....only a few 3gal fabric pots later and i realized how wrong i had been. theres either never enough dirt or way too mich of it in gardening
Great video ! Great recipe !
I buy compost by truckloads from a local supplier, perlite from Midwest Perlite in Appleton WI, peat moss from Menards (or Fleet & Farm, or Home Depot), fertilizer - Blood Meal and Bone Meal - in Menards
Still looking for place , besides BFG Supply , that would sell Peat Moss and organic fertilizer in bulk . Please let me know if anyone knows a place around Rockford IL that sells said items.
Thanks !
Hello very good video. By teh way YUCA is an edible root grown in the tropic also known as casaba. It is actially a great source of starch. Keep doing this nice videos. GBY
Great video, great info. I think there's two groups , one that will make their own (not only to save money but to make their own recipe) and the other group that wants a quick, all ready made recipe. Thank you again for the breakdown of price!😷
I’m glad you enjoyed!! I definitely know which group I’m in lol
the third group is the one who buys it in bulk, which gives them the same price advantage that mixing your own out of bulk ingredients does; but skips the mixing step.
Then there is the elusive 4th group. Little is known of the 4th group.
@@Unrealistic-o9c lolol
You have inspired me & Dog to start our container garden and start a video blog on TH-cam. ❤❤❤😊 thanks. You are the BEST 😍😍🥰🥰👏👏🤩🤩
U just earned a subscriber bro
Thanks for watching man, more videos coming this year 👌👌
I also use hoogaculture (spelling?*) but I fill my beds and boxes and pots mostly with all of the leaves, sticks, and bark around my property and use the natural topsoil before adding good soil on top. It's working so far, the only issue may be natural "weeds" that were in the soil...on the other other hand I have a lot of worms working for me for free 😀
hugelkultur
Nice, thanks! I made my own potting soil for potatoes, and was nice to see I did almost the exact same recipe. Maybe could have used more peat...
what would happen if I would take the soil from my lawn and use it as such or mix it with the potting mix for a small aloe plant that I have?
Nice job! I started making my own mixes last year and and kicking it up more this year. I bought huge bags of vermiculite and perlite then I
will be buying bulk worm castings & peat moss. What I like about DIY mixes is you can add other components that can help
with overall soil health.
That’s awesome! Your name is great by the way
I used alfalfa pellets meant for horses last summer and all my plants exploded with growth.
@@patriciacole8773 amount?
@@IntegrityandKarma same amount as a side dressing.
Hello 👋, Thank you so much for this video. It's just in time for my Brother and I to do this to plant seeds for our Container gardening. I'm a new subscriber and I look forward to watching & learning more from you. Thank you for all you do to prepare and make your videos. May God Bless You and All Your Family ALWAYS and EVERYWHERE ⚘XOXOXO from, Lois in Indiana 👍👍
Dem drone shots tho! Well done sir very helpful and well made video. Thank you!
Thanks saige!!! 🙏🙏👌
I work at a planty nursery and the soil we use is just aging pine bark, long release all purpose fertilizer, and maybe some perlite depending on the plants. This is definitely the cheapest option out there and it works great, finding the pine bark is the hard part
Many tree service companies will gladly deliver free wood mulch for free to homes because they have so much and have to get rid of it somehow.
@@jessicaveganjessica2208 hardwood mulch obtains moisture too much though, we’ve tried it in potting soil and its always too wet. But for some reason the pine bark with nothing else in it has like perfect draining and creates its own compost
@@collingalloway43 I see. James Prigioni uses wood mulch all over his 10 year old food forest, with great success. His YT channel is The Gardening Channel. He uses a thick (9") layer of wood mulch all over the ground and he uses a thin layer of this mulch on his raised beds. He's in PA, USA. I haven't tried the mulch method myself, but am getting ready to, this year. I do know that we put a 9" layer of wood mulch from pine, sweet gum and other trees and after a couple of years it was only pure, rich soil. All tree mulch will turn into soil because that's how it works in nature, in the woods, when branches and trees fall. I could see that some tree mulch could have different properties, but I am not familiar enough to know them.
@@jessicaveganjessica2208 no this is a great way to do it, thick mulching like that is the best way to get good soil without inoculating and using worms and all that. I was just referring to using it as a potting soil, we only found it too wet in pots, its great otherwise. As for the difference in trees, softwood mulch will make your soil more acidic, where hardwood is pretty neutral. And other than decomposition time and looks theres not much of a difference
@@collingalloway43 I see, thank you!!
Yuca is the plant fibers that are leftover from the spirits industry in Mexico.
Yuca is a staple food we used to eat in Fiji islands.
@@maddog3768 not the same thing this is the bulk fibers left over from tuqila manufacturing.
Interesting.
@@maddog3768 cool!
Agave is used for spirits in Mexico.
Kickass video bra man, I've been researching this for a while and this makes thing much more clear. I'm still trying to figure out the composting thing. So many people contradict each other on the composting thing.
Yucca is a root plant. It grows underground. It’s kind of like a potato but it’s not a potato, just in the sense that it grows underground and is edible.
Thanks man!
Have you ever tried it?
Bravo 6 Gardener yes. It’s popular in south Florida.
Michael Hidalgo that’s awesome.
Yucca is a plant that lives in desert dry areas and contains a high amount of saponins. Saponins help after tension. Peat is hard to get to absorbed water if dry and saponins help that and also help microbes
great vid. 2-3 tbsp per gallon powdered organic ferts. for seedlings, small plants , 4-5 tbsp per gallon for larger plants. :)
I have a yuca plant...someone planted it next to house bad idea..My dad tilled it in... Now I have 30 yuca plants every year!
The trot is like a cross btwm yam, potato and jicama... they sell in the stores.... dig up there and harvest.. so yummy.
They do not like a lot of water or they die..so water the heck out them if you don't like them or move to a neglected dry spot where they will thrive. The blooms are lovely.
And edible
Also they have something called saponins in the leaves and roots. Basically natural soap. Just mash, add a bit of water, and you’ve got suds. Great for a natural shampoo(won’t be foamy, but it gets out the dirt and grease). Extremely gentle on skin and fabric.
Hahahahaha 🤣😂
I reuse as much dirt as possible except for certain pepper plants that I bought some Fox Farm Happy Frog for. Perhaps when I retire I'll spend the extra time making my own soil for my pots but right now I just like to grab a bag here and there and plant.
Great video man. I really appreciate this as I have spent way too much on potting mixes over time
This is so needed, especially with all the fungus gnat infestations in store bought soil these days
I have used coconut coir instead of peat moss for a few years. The peat moss is environmentally problematic, and coir makes my vegetables very happy. Coir is essentially dried coconut husks. It costs more than peat moss, however.
Very good video about peat vs coconut core. May make you rethink your view. th-cam.com/video/MvYZdxVipAo/w-d-xo.html
I pay the price because of the destruction caused by peat moss harvesting.
Great information. I have 32 gallons of compost brewing now.
I would love to see comparison on growth between home made and store bought.
If you're just mixing together the same ingredients, the results will be the same.
I have a shed dedicated to mixing soils and use a small 5 gallon cement mixer to mix potting soil and garden soil to use in my greenhouses and in my gardens. I use 2 gallons composted soil, one gallon coir, 1/2 gallon perlite, 1/2 gallon worm castings fertilizer and it makes 4 gallons of mix. During winter I will mix 200 - 250+ gallons of soil and store in 5 gallons buckets until I need the soil in early spring. I purchase materials in bulk quantities and buy the dump truck load or full pallets of bagged products which keeps my materials cost down.
Yucca shidigera is a cactus plant. The extract is a wetting, foaming agent. Used in everything from food products to dish soap. It makes water wetter. Great for watering in plants so you don’t have dry pockets. Also for mixing in your sprayer to make your spraying agent to spread in spray better. Along with things like molasses. Compost teas Epsom salt. There are lots of products. That cost very little and are not petro chemical crap to grow your food with.
I think yucca (a sort of cactus) might be used instead of coco coir. Haven't used it in gardening myself, but I am familiar with the plant. It's rather fibrous, not sure how it compares to coco but I suspect it is similar in a gardening application.
Can I use Black Kow as the compost? Or what is the exact brand of compost you use?
This is what I plan to use..
+ (2 Part) Sunshine Sphagnum Peat Moss
+ (2 Part) Black Kow Organic Composted Cow Manure
+ (1 Part) Vigoro Organic Perlite Soil Amedment
+ (1 Handful) Epsoma Organic Garden Tone Herb and Vegetable Fertilizer
Does that sound about right? Also, what are your thoughts on 10-20-10 fertilizers? My mom has always used 10-20-10 but she never understood it either.. it's just what my uncle told her to use. I'm a brand new gardener so all of this is new to me.
I'm also planning on doing most of the gardening in grow bags because I think it might cost too much to buy all the stuff to make raised beds. What are your thoughts?
Thank you!! 😁
You definitely could use that! Any finished compost would work, I use a local landscape company that sells a leaf compost
@@nnoble92 Wow I'm excited! You've just made my day! You are the very first youtuber who has everrrrr replied! Feels like talking to a celebrity haha lol 😁
Most people all they care about is just getting their videos out .. getting views and that's mostly it. But I think the ones who truly care are the ones who actually take the time to read and reply. ❤
Please keep doing what you do, you're awesome!
Thank you Bravo 6 Gardener!! 😄🤗
You just made my day, thank you so much! 😊😊
Thank you for this!!
This is suuuuuuuper helpful. I have wasted so much money on bagged soil 😩
Bless your soul sir 🙏🏼
Just a tip for those who are fighting little gnats and small flies. Often the compost is infested with these
little pests, and they are so annoying that they sometimes make gardening less than pleasant. I put a little
granular "Mosquito pellets" in my mix and it kills the larvae. It doesn't hurt earthworms, I've checked
with the manufacturer.
🙄
@@ladyboywonder9139 why the eye roll
@@susiejefferson1844 chemicals . When will people learn .
@Ladyboywonder so how exactly did we get to this point... silliness grow food, reduce pests. Study, learn and don't be so stubborn to say say all chemicals are bad... many chemicals are found in the so called organic treatments.... sigh. But chemicals bad.... eyeroll.
@@michellelaudet5363 True. Everything is a “chemical”. Ask a chemist.
My favorite base is a modified version of a "best mix" I found in a university of Kansas at extension website years ago.
Theirs was pear moss, composted cow manure and builders sand. Mine replaces coco coir for the peat moss. I prefer coir because it is more ph neutral than peat moss.
I personally dislike perlite and vermiculite. You can change the ratios of coir/peat and sand instead to change water retention or drainage and aeration, etc.
I usually sift each through a coarse screen to keep larger pebbles, gravel, twigs and stray junk out and to help the mix open up and breathe.
After that you can tailor the mix anyway you like. Greensand. Egg shells, coffee grounds, Epsom salt, molasses, chicken bones, bat guano, whatever you like for whatever plant you're growing.
Great video- missed opportunity to encourage home composting 🤗
Excellent content, I’m glad you told us where we can purchase the low cost ingredients. I love saving money.