Hello: I am planning on potting some new houseplants (from cuttings) into new pots, and I wanted to know what is a good soil for indoor plants.

In the past, I have used potting mix that I bought in the stores like Home Depot, and although they seem to work, they are not the best drainers.

I have noticed that some plants that I bought from nurseries have very fast draining (and drying) soil, and quite different from the store bought potting soil. I have also read that soils for cactus are good for indoor plants because they drain well.

Any suggestions as to what I should use? I would prefer a store bought variety, but am open to suggestions, happy to mix different mediums if necessary.

:thankyou:

What kind of plants are you potting?

The plants will include Dracanea, Rubber plant, Pachira aquatica, and Schefflera.

And I am in zone 10 a, northern California.

Thanks

I do not believe any of those require, need fast draining soil. Many plants you buy from big box stores drain fast because they use cheap imitation soil. To keep it simple, many of the house plant soil bags sold are just fine for your needs.

Yes I agree with Gene, any decent proprietary houseplant compost you find in garden centres or big box stores should be sufficient for your cuttings.

A standard potting mix is what those plants listed require. However, you should use only a soilless, peat-based potting mix for your indoor plants if you want to avoid pest problems that occur regularly with such brands as Miracle-Gro.

You can make your own basic potting mix of 4 parts peat moss or coir with one part perlite.

I recently made a video of my personal potting mix on youtube. My favorite for all kinds of indoor plants is a combination of sphagnum moss, soil, perlite and leca. If you are interested, go check it out: //youtu.be/rqawWFuNusw

Peat habitat loss is a real problem, do try to use peat substitutes if possible.

I was going to start a new thread on this, but this thread is talking about the very thing, so I hope nobody minds me chiming in here. I found a video posted by Planterina, youtube.com/watch?v=2Nt3kUDZcVY

So I made a mixture of 60% sphagnum peat moss (I already had a bag laying around, I actually like the idea of using coco coir), and 40% pumice, and put in a decent amount of worm castings. However this soil does NOT drain well at all. Currently I only have a lucky bamboo in it right now, which fortunately likes to be wet. But I'm hesitant to use it with my other plants, because it seems to stay wet forever. It's been 10 days since I watered my bamboo, and that mixture is still very damp on top. It's in a ceramic pot with a drain hole on the bottom. Any ideas what is wrong with my soil mixture? I was kind of excited to have a good soil recipe, but this seems to hold too much water.

Can someone please advise? How long will a Sago Palm stay within "houseplant" size status? I'm talking ~ 2 ft tall. I saw one for sale recently in a pot that was about 6-8" tall and liked it, but did not purchase yet. I'm in zone 6b, so it cannot go outside!
Thanks!

@paqman - The worm castings may be retaining moisture for too long, depending on how much you put in. There is nothing special about worm castings. The nutrients in it are of limited value, it tends to be a bit too alkaline, and it can sometimes be a source of fungus gnat larvae.

Having the perfect potting mix does not guarantee that it will solve watering problems. If the pot is too large in proportion to the roots then the soil will stay wet for too long. Pot size may be the most important consideration, especially since many folks tend to over-pot their plants.

@KYgal - I don't know what you consider to be too big for a "houseplant." When kept indoors, Sagos grow slowly and don't get very tall. I have never known that to be an issue.

Thank you, WillC,
I don't like houseplants to exceed 2-2 1/2 feet.

An unglazed clay pot is an amazing tool for avoiding "overwatering" because it allows roots to breathe all around the root ball, not just at the soil surface and drain hole.

WillC said:@paqman - The worm castings may be retaining moisture for too long, depending on how much you put in. There is nothing special about worm castings. The nutrients in it are of limited value, it tends to be a bit too alkaline, and it can sometimes be a source of fungus gnat larvae.

Having the perfect potting mix does not guarantee that it will solve watering problems. If the pot is too large in proportion to the roots then the soil will stay wet for too long. Pot size may be the most important consideration, especially since many folks tend to over-pot their plants.

Thank you! It very well could be that I overpotted it. Even though the plant itself is pretty tall, it has a very small rootball, so it is probably in too large of a pot. I didn't put a ton of worm castings, just added some because she recommended it lol. But that's good to know, I might try it with other plants and do it a bit smaller. I was just confused about why it was retaining so much moisture for so long. Sorry for hijacking this thread! I realize I probably should have just started a new one.

@KYgal - Maybe you should get one that is a bit shorter so it has more room to grow, even though it will grow slowly.

I agree, WillC - the one I saw was only about 8" tall! Thanks

Nate, you could add sand and fine orchid bark to improve drainage. Coir is good for opening soil pores too.