Hello
I have a bunch of compost, some perlite, etc. What I am missing is dirt. The house I rent does not have any available. What can I mix the compost and perlite with to make decent potting soil? Growing mostly veggies. I don't want to mix the compost with store-bought potting soil as that already has the nutrients...what would be a good substitute for good old fashion ground dirt?
Thank you
Mac

Mac, the store bought stuff isn't dirt, most of it is just shredded woods of varying degrees of shreddedness. Unless you specifically buy a potting soil with added nutrients, those bags of mulch and compost have fertilizer quotients of .05 .05 .05 stamped on them. Those numbers represent the estimated fertilizer releases of the aging shreds - which is to say, they got nothing in them to feed a plant. MG is the same, you can't buy dirt anymore. FoxFarms and Happy Frog are based in Cali and I have absolutely no doubts when I use them, my veggies adore them. When you do pick up a fertilizer, get a plant specific fertilizer with an NPK that is something like a 3-4-6 and life will be good

Have you just tried Googling "Topsoil Millbrae"?

https://www.soildirect.com/loc...

Get two to five gallon pail, drive out in the country , shovel some up drive home and mix.

"Good old fashion ground dirt" isn't necessarily a good choice as a potting medium, especially if it's on the clay side, even with compost and perlite. It's often too dense and doesn't drain well in a pot. Peat or coco coir would do better, plus coarse sand, pine bark and other ingredients
(Note: research the use of peat before choosing it..there are environmental considerations)

Much depends on your containers—5-gallon buckets? Raised beds? Some loamy or sandy soil could be fine in a raised bed, not so good in buckets.
Here's one article with several recipes
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn...

And another
https://www.preen.com/learn/la...

but googling "homemade potting mix for (fill in type of container)" will reveal many ideas and instructions.

Thank you everyone.

Check out landscape supply businesses in your area. They almost always have topsoil for sale. Many will sell small quantities (bring your 5 gallon bucket), or deliver a truck load. Start by calling, asking if they sell what you're looking for, and how much it costs. Be sure to check out the soil quality in person before delivery. I once ended up with a truckload of caliche, sold as "fill dirt". Even the gophers won't tunnel in it.

One of the best articles I found on making mixes, with a lot of the famous potting mix recipes given, is this article linked to below.

It also goes through all the components you might consider adding and why you might add them.
It talks about organic mixes, but you can choose to do those or not, of course.

ATTRA Sustainable agriculture said:
POTTING MIXES FOR CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCTION
https://attra.ncat.org/publica...