Plant Care 101: Soil Info
When working with indoor houseplants, we want to do our best to help them feel at home, and soil is an excellent place to start. However, not all soils are created equally - a visit to the soil aisle can definitely confuse anyone just starting out in the hobby.
Soils can contain ingredients that increase/decrease moisture retention, aeration, drying speed, as well as nutrition (low/high organic material & supplements). We use high quality soil and amendments when repotting in the Plant Lab - our preferred brand is E.B. Stone (their entire Organics line is our standby in the store, too).
Soil can be amended to achieve different properties - check your soil’s ingredients to match your plant’s preferences or compensate for other variables.
In the example above, the soil on the left is appropriate for tropical plants or those that like to stay wet for a little while, reducing the need to water as frequently. Additional organic material such as earthworm castings, guano, etc. act as a source of nutrition for root systems and will feed plants over time.
The soil on the right is more specialized for cacti, succulents, snake plants, or plants which call for “well draining soil” - this soil has more lava rocks, pumice, bark & sand and will dry out more quickly, reducing the risk of overwatering. Many of those plants have also evolved to require less organic material in their substrate, so if using a soil like this for different types of plants, you may need to add additional organic material or feed with fertilizers.
When I started keeping houseplants, I learned (the hard way) that I tended to overwater my plants - be it from watering too frequently, or being too heavy handed. Switching some of my plants to a soil that promoted faster drying mitigated a lot of my overwatering issues as I continued to learn. Experiment with soil types as you learn more about your environment - when you understand how the plants in your home behave, and how they communicate, you’ll be better equipped to make adjustments!
Holly here: Soil might just be the most underrated element of a healthy indoor plant. Often misrepresented as an accessory, soil is (or can be) just as alive as the plant itself depending on the quality and type! Like we mentioned earlier, plants evolved in very particular environments and climates: from warm and humid, bright and arid, wet and tropical. Soil is an organic balancing agent, meaning it can combat or lessen the harshness of an environment to meet the plant’s needs, and vice versa; soil materials can matter a little less when other variables in the environment are adjusted to resemble a plant’s.
Plant and soil work together to create the perfect home!
