WELCOME TO MY TABLE!
Take it from me, a horticulturist who’s grown and potted up thousands of plants grown from seeds, cuttings, and plugs… Welcome to my table! The potting table, the potting bench.
There is no ONE right answer as to what to use—there are many solutions. Solutions should always be based though on what the plant is, how it grows in the wild (hybrids can of course be based on their parents), and what the growing conditions are in your location.
The issue here is that there are many wrong ways to go about doing this—with many folks suggesting things that are either unnecessary, simply not accurate because they’re based on one singular growing situation, or ideas are based on personal preference. I’m not here to sell you on anything, I just want to show you what I know based on the hours of hard work I’ve learned from over the years.
like any good recipe passed around, there are many variations and explanations for using this (or that) in a soil
Plants provided by Little Prince that you can find online or maybe at your local garden center or boutique plant shop!
PLANTS I POTTED UP
For this presentation, I used a coco blend potting soil as a base and then I adjusted as needed with other amendments/ingredients. At home, I always use PRO-MIX HP MYCORRHIZAE as my base mix for my indoor plants. It is a peat-based growing medium with low water retention.
Dendrobium kingianum
Echeveria ‘Violet Queen’
Streptocarpus ‘Dale’s Scarlet Macaw’
PLANTS I GAVE AWAY
Albuca spiralis ‘Frizzle Sizzle’
Echeveria ‘Violet Queen’
Kalanchoe ‘Chocolate Soldier’
Philodendron ‘Quad Color’ aka ‘Orange Marmalade’
Saintpaulia ‘Wrangler’s Dixie Celebration’
Streptocarpus Ladyslippers(TM) ‘White Ice’
Streptocarpus ‘Steffano’s Shadow Play’
INGREDIENTS FOR YOUR OWN POTTING PANTRY
Charcoal: helps with drainage and can hold additional nutrients. Can be “activated” with other things like microbes for the soil.
LECA: Light Explanded Clay Aggregate
Lechuza-Pon: Substrate that is a soilless alternative. Read more about it at the link. This product is not for me, but many others have great success with it.
Orchid Bark: Comes in many sizes, and if often from Doug firs but can come from pine as well. I use both for different things.
Perlite: crushed volcanic material that is lightweight, absorbent, and porous. It is washed and headed at a high temperature This causes it to expand. It retains water well. Best for aeration.
Pumice: Volcanic rock. It retains moisture and aerates the soil.
Rock Wool: Spun from crushed basaltic rock made into fine fibers. It aerates and holds moisture.
Rootshield Plus: A granular preventative biofungicide for control of major root diseases. (Expensive for the home grower but useful in the trade. It’s used in the Little Prince mix.)
Sphagnum Moss: At home I use both purchased premium grade long fiber as well as live sphagnum that I grow in flats. Allows for oxygen to reach roots, and retains water.
Vermiculite: a volcanic material. It contains magnesium, iron and aluminum. Best for holding water.
Worm Castings: Worm manure that’s organic compost.
Amateur Bot-ann-ist 