The conditions created for plants in an apartment differ significantly from the natural conditions in which these species originally grew. Therefore for successful cultivation For indoor plants, it is necessary to create an environment as close as possible to the one they require: the appropriate temperature, light, humidity should be maintained and the appropriate soil should be selected.

Let's focus on the last point. Priming!

Each type of plant grown in pots or flower beds requires a special soil mixture designed specifically for it. That is why there is currently an entire industry for the production of a wide variety of soils. You can find soil mixtures on sale different composition, created for various indoor plants.

Let's look at the main components of soil, which are used both separately and in mixtures for indoor plants.

Leaf humus is the result of the decomposition of fallen leaves. It is not used as a fertilizer, but it perfectly conditions the soil, increasing its ability to retain moisture.

garden soil

On this natural substrate, many species of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants successfully grown in gardens.

In general, “good garden soil” means fertile, well-drained soil with an acidity close to neutral. Its main components are sand (about 50%), silt (25-30%) and clay (15-20%), as well as at least 10-15% organic matter.

It can be used for growing indoor plants pure form or in a mixture with other components (depending on the needs of individual plant species).

Peat

Bonsai soil.

Of all the components that are included in soil mixtures for indoor plants or used separately, peat is the most important. Peat is formed by the accumulation of plant remains that have undergone incomplete decomposition in swamp conditions. It usually does not contain harmful substances and microorganisms, as well as weed seeds.

Depending on the color and structure, peat is conventionally divided into two groups.

White, or sphagnum, peat is most popular for growing plants in an apartment. It retains moisture while providing good air flow and moderate drainage (especially the large granule variety).

Dark peat is less suitable for indoor plants and is used in mixtures with materials that facilitate drainage (for example, sand, agroperlite, polystyrene). This peat makes the soil lighter and is therefore more suitable for sowing seeds, planting cuttings and growing young plants.

Peat is highly acidic, with a pH of 3.5 to 4, but most plant species, with the exception of acid-loving ones, require an acidity level ranging from 5.5 to 6. Calcium carbonate (3 kg per m3) can be used to reduce acidity. Using peat, especially coarsely ground peat, you can improve insufficiently acidic or soft soil.

Porous clay

Do not confuse porous and dense clay; the latter is not suitable for growing indoor plants. Porous clay serves to compact soil that is too light (particularly peat) and increase its ability to retain moisture.

Humus

Humus is a substance of organic origin obtained by fermentation and processing of fallen leaves of trees, especially beech and pine needles, into a mineralized substance. Humus can be used both in pure form and in a mixture with peat for all plants that require soft, light and rich nutrients the soil.

Humus from pine needles is more suitable for growing bromeliads, azaleas, rhododendrons and heathers. In this case, it is advisable to avoid humus from the needles of coniferous plants belonging to the genera Picea and Abies (spruce and fir), since they contain an excess amount of resins.

Bark

Pine bark.

Typically, the bark of trees belonging to the genera pine, spruce, fir, pseudo-hemlock and oak is used. If you remove the resin from the bark, it can improve water absorption and air access to the roots. The bark has a good ability to retain moisture. When making a mixture for epiphytes or semi-epiphytes, it is usually mixed with peat, polystyrene or polyurethane foam.

Sand

In its pure form, sand can be used for germinating seeds or planting cuttings. It can be used to adjust the properties of peat or other organic materials to obtain a mixture with good drainage properties. Light gray river sand without any admixture of gravel or silt is best suited for this purpose.

Vermiculite and perlite

Perlite.

These natural inorganic materials are obtained from certain rocks and are used in a mixture with organic materials (mainly peat). Vermiculite and perlite give the soil softness, permeability and improve air access. They are suitable for the soil in which seeds are germinated and cuttings are rooted.

Polystyrene

Polystyrene is a plastic material in the form of granules different sizes which is produced industrially. It helps improve the reclamation characteristics of the soil, making it light and drainable. Polystyrene is mainly used in the manufacture of soil mixtures for epiphytes (for example, for some types of orchids). This soil mixture can be improved by adding crushed polyurethane foam, which, unlike polystyrene, has average water retention capacity.

Based on materials from the magazine Houseplants from A to Z.

Fertilizing plants with clay is used when planting in new soil. For this, blue, gray, white and yellow clay are most often used. The best clays are blue and gray.

Clay must be taken from the upper layers after it has lain on outdoors a few months. Dried balls with a diameter of 1 - 1.5 cm should be placed under the roots of the plants, sprinkled with soil on top. Clay placed under the roots gives plants sufficient quantity nutrients, slightly alkalizes the soil, preventing rapid acidification. But it should be noted that naturally silted soil is most favorable for plant development and contains all the necessary substances.

Natural white clay is used to feed many aquarium plants, and is especially effective for cultivating echinodorus and most long-stemmed plants.

Clay is added to the soil of the aquarium directly during planting or introduced into the root system of an already rooted plant using tweezers (Fig. 1 - incorrect, Fig. 2 - correct). Depending on the size of the bush and the condition of the root system, 1-5 balls of clay are required. Clay can be added to the soil under the roots of an already rooted plant (Fig. 3, 5, 7), or under a plant whose roots are on the surface of the soil (Fig. 4, 6, 8). It is completely harmless to fish.

I don’t want to give my plants any problems with nutrition or gas exchange, and I always add this component when preparing the soil.

This is what this nutrient soil looks like after preparation.

But I haven’t seen such coarse-grained river sand in stores in Moscow, only fine, quarry sand is found at a price higher than granulated sugar.

A very controversial question is which soil is better - purchased or home-made, is peat in the soil good or bad, why do plants grow better in some mixtures containing peat, while in others they die? Is it convenient to grow plants on hydrogel and why does pH matter so much? These and other issues are discussed in this review article, based on the forum materials.

How to prepare land

A. M. Zaitsev (Alex):

Peat is the most valuable natural biological material. Improves soil structure and its water-air properties. Being the basis of the habitat of any plant and a moisture regulator, it provides optimal conditions for growing plants.

Although not rich in macro and microelements, it contains unique components: humic acids, growth and development stimulants; aAmino acids - necessary for converting certain nutrients into a form accessible to the plant. It has bactericidal properties, high gas absorption capacity, and is equally necessary for all types of soil.

Peat is conventionally divided into two groups:

• Light (or light) - peat of the upper layer of the deposit with a degree of decomposition of up to 15%. This young, slightly decomposed peat characterizes small specific gravity- from 150 to 250 kg/m3, high gas and water absorption capacity, but lower content of humic and amino acids, due to the incompleteness of decomposition processes;
• Heavy (or dark) - peat of the lower layers, with a degree of decomposition of more than 15%. This is a more “mature” peat, with a specific gravity of 350 kg/m3, a high humus content, but lower gas and water retention properties than light peat.

In floriculture, peat is used in its pure form as an improver of the structure of the cultivated soil, for the accumulation and long-term retention of moisture, as well as an environment that promotes an increase in oxygen exchange processes.

I don’t want to give my plants any problems with nutrition or gas exchange, and I always add this component when preparing the soil.

I prepare the soil from equal parts: lowland peat ventilated in air for 2-3 years, leaf humus from under centuries-old linden trees, humus horse manure, garden soil, turf soil, coarse sand from springs with the addition of a small amount of alder firewood ash, crushed hardwood coals.

I looked through several books on growing citrus fruits and found only positive reviews about peat. I will quote from the book by I.S. Konashkova “Citrus fruits near Moscow” 1954 “Peat freshly removed from the swamp has high acidity and therefore is not only unsuitable as an organic fertilizer, but even has a harmful effect on the yield and growth of plants. But if the peat is pre-prepared, it will be the strongest, most effective and the most cheap fertilizer. It ennobles the soil, improves its structure, makes the soil hygroscopic, which is very important for indoor citrus crops..."

To collect a complete nutritious soil outside the city you need:

1. Remove no more than 5 cm of soil under old linden or birch trees; it is advisable to sift the soil, i.e. separate large and unrotted clods of earth and twigs - this is leaf soil. By the way, be careful when taking soil from mixed forests; if coniferous humus predominates, then the soil reaction is acidic; it is still advisable to take soil from under deciduous trees, besides oaks, beware of willow, it also has a lot of tannins.

2. Upper layer remove soil from clover meadows 10 cm thick and cover the soil between the grass roots, then sift it - this is turf soil.

3. All kinds of humus can be found near livestock farms and stables. Animal feed is brought and stored in the same places. Small particles of feed constantly remain on the soil and rot over the years - this is plant humus. It is better to take humus from the stables, but humus from cattle (cattle) manure is suitable; high-quality peat humus is also obtained there.
As an additional component to the soil, I always add soil from mole heaps - this is already sifted and nutritious soil, because moles live only on fertile soils.

4. Nettle grows only on fertile soil, the acid reaction of such soil is close to neutral, citrus fruits grow well on nettle soil (soil with a neutral reaction of 7 pH, lower acidity - the soil is considered acidic, higher - alkaline). I specifically checked the acidity of “nettle soils”; it is approximately 6.5 pH; nettles practically do not grow on other soils. It should be collected in spring or early summer before the seeds on the nettle ripen. Gently shake off the soil from the rhizomes, remove pieces of roots, preferably sift it. And if nettles sprout in pots, then there’s nothing wrong with that - they’ll be added to the salad.

About soil preparation:

I avoid thermal treatments (calcination, steaming), now when changing the soil I use fresh soil and it always contains all kinds of worms, centipedes, and ants. The soil for replanting in spring is kept in winter in the garage at low temperatures, freezing of the soil does not work because even in the most severe frosts, the air temperature in the garage does not drop below 0 degrees.

To a bucket of soil I add half a liter of crushed birch or alder charcoal and two handfuls of ash from the same rocks. Large coals are good instead of drainage in pots, but when replanting you need to be more careful - often the roots of plants penetrate and wrap around the coal drainage and you have to replant them together with it.

Soil from the store

Citrus growing conference participant, fdta:

All sold soils are based on peat and its products - from high-moor fibrous peat to completely decomposed peat humus. Composts are quite expensive and much less accessible, their composition is extremely variable (and the constant supply of the same type of compost is extremely difficult and expensive), and there is no need to include them in the composition in large quantities. Natural components (turf, leaf soil... any land of natural origin), in industrial production It is almost impossible to use, the deposits are formed only by peat, and there can be no talk of any constancy of the composition.

There are, of course, still available raw materials - waste soils from greenhouse farms. But this is not even suitable for harvesting city flower beds. The point is not only infestation with pests and diseases (this can be solved), everything that can be destroyed in such a substrate is destroyed, in fact, it is always phytotoxic to one degree or another.
And there are no more options for the base.

By the way, among some gardeners there is an opinion that peat is not suitable for citrus and other fruit trees. I’m not saying this, of course, but I suspect that it was written by one of the old authors (based on its acidity), and then it began to wander from book to book. In addition, peat from each deposit has its own characteristics. Perhaps it’s a matter of structure (let’s say European citruses are supplied in a heavy, dense substrate (unlike high peat in all other potted plants). Although, again, for example, all the plants from China that I saw (mainly mini-trees, bonsai, ficus, citrus, alocasia , cacti), were in alumina (it looks like just clay), the plants themselves are often grown very well.

The land sold is tightly sealed bags with a moist substrate, which contains a lot of organic matter and the decomposition processes have not died out. If anaerobic conditions are created, the corresponding microflora develops; its metabolites are usually toxic to the region and some of them do not quickly decompose or erode. I assume that this is one of the reasons for the frequent picture (along with an excess of easily soluble salts) after transshipment into such soil - at the next transplant (after a year or a year and a half) it is discovered that the roots have not gone into the new substrate at all (they are localized only in the old coma), the border of which stands out sharply, and even there it is not in the best condition.

By the way, a sharp slowdown in the rate of drying of the soil after transplantation (all other things being equal temperature and light) indicates a disruption in the functioning of the root system.

And this is not all - buffer properties (the ability of the substrate to maintain a constant concentration of salts and pH when watering, drying, adding fertilizers), the state of the soil microflora.

In short - between natural soil and purchased soil, the difference is huge and it’s not a matter of peat (in domestic soils, more often it looks like screening out peat (a very fine fraction), and often (in the “Garden of Miracles”) some kind of heavy, fine-structured fraction that behaves like peat when watered ( after drying out, it becomes saturated with moisture with great difficulty.) I have associations with screening out low-calorie brown coal.

Producers have another temptation - waste soil from greenhouse farms. In itself, deoxidized high-moor peat (with a coarse-fiber structure) is an excellent component and even the basis of the substrate.

Also, many list vermicompost as a component. IN finished form it has a very characteristic and stable structure. There is no trace of it in the “Garden of Miracles”, unless they grind it into dust for incomprehensible reasons? Or do they add kilograms per ton?

I simply use forest soil, trying to avoid oak trees and choosing the most structured (as little fine fraction as possible) and, if possible, dark soil.
For example, Chinoto on a tangerine seedling (or rather, not a tangerine, but what is usually sold in the spring with many seeds like tangerines) a month and a half after transplantation (photo on the left), in a year it will have a very tightly intertwined root system, from which the old soil will be difficult to shake out even with a strong desire.

When I came to work in a flower salon, we only had “Garden of Miracles”, then “Green Sprout”, much later I managed to convince the management to buy German ASB (by the way, it is based on fibrous high-moor peat), now this is the only thing I recommend using in pure form.

Regarding the soil structure: by structure we mean the predominance of the “granular” fraction, when a sufficient number of air spaces remain between the soil particles. Fine sand such as construction sand, on the contrary, will fill them and “cement” the soil (if such a fraction is well moistened, water completely displaces air and is retained between the particles due to capillary forces).

Vermicompost is a very good thing, the praises that are sometimes sung to it are justified when it is really it and with a sufficient degree of processing. At one time I kept a small population at home California worms when I was working on cacti. To sow them, the soil must be sterilized. It is impossible to maintain sterility in crops, and you have to either keep them dry (then you lose a lot in growth), or use fungicides (also not very effective and slow down growth), or after sterilization, restore the normal microflora with vermicompost, which turned out to be the most effective.

Why purchased soil is not suitable for cacti is easier to explain. It turned out that excellent result gives sifting of a fraction less than 1-1.5 mm (everything smaller is thrown away) - the result is a “grainy”, breathable substrate, which simply eliminates stagnation of moisture and oxygen starvation of the roots. And when it comes to soil from the store, it is suggested that you try to sift it in the same way, but in this case there will simply be nothing left of it.

Zeolite for plants

Expertise of store-bought soil for flowers

St. Petersburg public organization of consumers " Public control"Together with the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Leningrad Interregional Veterinary Laboratory" of Rosselkhoznadzor of the Russian Federation in April 2013, we conducted several versions of store-bought soils based on quality indicators.

And although only 10 samples were involved in the examination, this gives us some idea of ​​​​what kind of soil we plant plants in and why they get sick. For example, in a sample of soil for all indoor plants "Tsvetochny" (LLC "Fasko+", Moscow region), phosphorus and potassium turned out to be almost three times more than indicated on the packaging. And this is a very common soil, sold all over the country. And, besides, if “Fasco” has violations in one of the soils, then where is the guarantee that there are no exaggerations in the entire line of soils.

In general, a lot of interesting things have been written about the Sad company: “during public inspections for five years (2008-2013), violations of its own specifications were noted. Thus, in 2011 and 2012, the manufacturer did not report nitrogen, potassium and ... the earth itself to its soil "And before that, in 2009, on the contrary, I went too far with macronutrients."

Rosselkhoznadzor specialists found from various options soils for seedlings are downright dangerous specimens. Thus, peat-mineral soil "Tomato. Pepper. Eggplant" (LLC "Sad", Leningrad region) and soil for indoor plants "Flower City" (ZAO "Chudovoagrokhimservice", V. Novgorod) showed a complete discrepancy with the stated information on the packaging. Peat soil "Tomato. Pepper. Eggplant" contains phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen 2–3 times less than normal, and the acidity pH of the soil was 3.29 (at a norm of 5.5-6.5). With such acidity, the soil is completely unsuitable for growing any plants, indoors or gardens, without exception. Of all the violations, the most harmless was the excess of soil importance - the norm is 45%, and manufacturers overestimated it by 10-15% - simply adding moisture for weight (to reduce the cost of the product).

Based on the results of checking the quality of soils, specialists did not have any complaints about only three samples. This is a universal nutrient soil "Terra Vita" (ZAO MNPP "Fart", St. Petersburg), peat soil "Universal" TM " Ambulance" (LLC "Peat plant "Agro-peat", Leningrad region) and universal primer "Exo" (JSC "Seliger-Holding", Tver).

Soil for citrus fruits

Participant of the citrus growing conference, tsitrys:

The most fertile soil- this is one that allows you to increase the maximum area of ​​​​healthy, glossy citrus leaves with the same volumes of soil in containers, without applying fertilizers and other similar favorable conditions(watering, lighting, air humidity, etc.).

I also don’t trust store-bought soils; I conducted experiments for several years after all the planted orange seeds rotted in store-bought soil at favorable substrate humidity and temperature, and all of them sprouted in ordinary turf, which I had never even thought of growing in! I was so confident in the suspensions I purchased that I believed more in the underdevelopment of the best selected seeds!

The experiments were carried out like this: I took ordinary white yogurt cups (approximately 100 ml), poured different soil into each of them, planted one seed in each glass, watered it so that the soil was wet and stuck a strip of wide tape. To ensure gas exchange, leave a gap of approximately 0.5 cm on each side. The tape retained moisture, and it was necessary to water several times less often. When the seeds sprouted, I cut holes in the tape opposite each sprout.

Most large area oranges grew healthy leaves in rich, dense, forest loam and loose soil with 2-meter thick nettles, in sod half as much, in store-bought sod as in sod if it is not defective and a successful batch. Among the store-bought ones I tried only “Florabel-5”, “Vostorg”, “Floradom”.
In the defective batch of "Vostorg" the seeds and transplanted seedlings with two leaves were rotting.

Soil acidity, composition, use of hydrogel

About soil acidity

Question: The pH of the soil in several pots is neutral. I can't seem to make it slightly acidic. Apparently citric, ascorbic acids, etc. quickly decompose. It is too early to replant the plants. How can you radically acidify the soil?

Jah - Citric and ascorbic acids are slightly acidic. This is expressed in the fact that they react with alkalis, but when dissolved in a large volume, they give an almost neutral reaction (not noticeable on litmus paper). Either add more (or more often) or use a more active acid, but this is dangerous for obvious reasons. In principle, you can experiment with a weak solution of nitric acid. But there is one more nuance. Most acids have the same pH over a certain range of concentrations. Let me explain with an example. In a glass of water, at least one spoon of acetic acid, at least two - the pH will be the same. To achieve the desired pH in a pot of soil, in theory you need to take some acid with that pH and pour its solution over the soil until the acid reacts with all the alkalis and reaches a certain concentration. Which could end badly.

Question: In my opinion, all alkalis react with acids to form water and salts. Another thing is that the resulting salts may not be beneficial for the plant at all.

Jah - Not all salts give neutral environment. Salts citric acid alkali and alkaline earth metals will be basic salts, that is, their environment will still be alkaline, since citric acid is quite weak. To obtain neutral salts, you need inorganic acids, such as hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, but experiments with them are quite capable of destroying plants.
Most organic acids are weak. You can acidify the soil, as I believe, with potassium sulfate - after all, when potassium is “selected” from this compound by the roots, a sulfate ion will remain, which neutralizes the alkaline compounds of calcium and magnesium, which most often give the earth an alkaline environment without being required by the plant in the same volumes as potassium.

I wrote these tips so that everyone would think three times before doing something about soil acidity.

In general, it seems to me that a pH greater than 7 (alkaline soil reaction) is a whole complex of problems that are unwise to solve head-on. I agree that watering with a solution of citric acid (and other organic acids) is useful for the formation of soluble salts (organic salts of many insoluble bases dissolve well) - but the alkaline reaction of the soil is a consequence of the fact that it is missing many important ions, or an excess of some not very popular. In theory, normal soil in nature has a slightly acidic environment due to two factors - the neutral balance of ion acidity and the presence of organic acids formed during the life of bacteria. Calcium and magnesium (the main problem elements) form basic (alkaline) soluble salts with organic acids, which can further raise the pH (that is, make the reaction more alkaline).

I use peat soils, simply because we don’t have anything else in our stores, and everything grows more or less normally. I prepare soils like this: I take a package of Terra Vita (I think made by Fart), for 10 liters of soil 2-3 liters of vermiculite, 4 bags of dry bio-gel (each bag is designed for 1.5 liters of finished gel), sometimes I add sleeping tea is about a liter or two. I mix it all in a large pot and off we go.

Vermiculite significantly improves the mechanical properties of peat, and Terra Vita also adds coconut fiber, perlite and other inert additives, but there are not enough of them - without vermiculite it shrinks greatly when it dries. And I add gel so that it holds water and does not turn sour at the same time. And by the way, no matter how funny it may seem, with gel the soil “walks” less when it dries. When planting seeds or transplanting/transferring plants, I always spray them with Fitosporin.

Question: V. Dadykin talks about the use of the “Underground Spring” hydrogel. I didn't pay special attention, is this gel available in our stores, but it was interesting to try. I would like to ask if anyone else has experience using this miracle gel? I think this is great way- save plants while on vacation outside the home.

Jah - I add gel (only a different brand) to the soil, in the amount of about one and a half liters of ready-made gel per 5 liters of soil. I just add it in dry form. It's called Bio-master, it costs much less than all analogues - about 10 rubles per bag, which makes one and a half liters. I like that after adding the gel, the soil dries out more slowly - and most importantly, it does not shrink into a dry lump that does not absorb moisture. It is quite difficult to flood a plant with it, unless you approach it with diligence. I think that if you look, you can find it. As soon as I see it, I buy it - it’s rarely on sale anywhere.

Question: How to water plants with hydrogel. If a bag yields 1.5 liters, but when the soil dries out, what happens? Does the gel significantly decrease in volume? How much water is needed to restore soil moisture with gel?

Jah - The fact is that the gel swells quite slowly, and not necessarily to its full volume. I water all my plants the same way - before water appears from the holes in the pot, the gel does not have time to swell too much during this time. After the end of watering, it swells a little more, and the soil becomes not wet, but simply moist - also a good thing. And it remains moist even when exactly the same plant in exactly the same pot is already sitting in dry soil on top. The gel shrinks during this time, leaving small voids in the soil... In general, watering is the same, only less often and safer in terms of flooding.

Vita - I bought something close to a hydrogel - soil conditioner "AS-GUMI" (humic water-absorbing polymer). In its description, I really liked one phrase: “Indispensable for long-term transportation of plants.” The packaging says: AS-GUMI - dry powder, non-toxic polymer product with the addition of humates. Manufacturer: NPP VIOST LLC, Moscow.

According to the manufacturer's recommendation, take 1 g of gel per 1 liter of soil and soak it in a glass of water for 1 hour. I took about 2 g of gel per 2.5 liters of “Garden of Miracles” soil (peaty and dries out quickly) and soaked it in a 0.5 liter jar, after an hour the entire jar was filled with swollen hydrogel, but the largest grains of gel turned out to be no larger than a pea . I used soil with hydrogel to transplant young plants into small pots (usually they dry out quickly) and bonsai (which is difficult to shed evenly in the usual way, and immersing it in a bowl of water every time is too troublesome). It’s the fourth day after transplanting, everyone’s soil is evenly moist, I’m happy so far.

2 months have passed: the plants feel normal, the soil, of course, dries out more slowly, but you also need to water more, if it is still dry, the soil does not “set” when it dries out.

It should be immediately noted that it is incorrect to call the substrate in a pot soil. Soil is a single living organism, consisting of connected layers (horizons) and formed on a certain parent rock depending on climate, topography and the activity of soil organisms over a long period of time. This way the soil becomes fertile and is able to recreate itself. As soon as we take a piece of soil and bring it home, it immediately turns into some more or less fertile substrate. Therefore, we will call the substance in the pot soil or substrate. Its main purpose is to support the plant and conduct water and nutrients to the roots, and provide access to air. Providing the plant with nutrition is not the primary function of soils, and our task is to timely and correctly introduce nutrients into the substrate. Soils can be made not only from natural materials taken from nature, but also from artificial ones, for example, hydrogel, perlite or expanded clay - with the hydroponic growing method.

When selecting soil for a particular plant, you need to understand what kind of soil it needs in terms of composition and acidity. To do this, it is useful to read specialized literature; it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the biology and growing conditions of your favorite plant.

Despite the wide variety of soils on store shelves, almost all of them are divided into several groups. During the production process, acidity-regulating substances and fertilizers (usually long-acting) are added to the base; sometimes sand, expanded clay chips, perlite and other components are added.

Soils based on high-moor peat. They are probably the majority. High-moor peat is the result of the decomposition of sphagnum moss, which grows in high-moor bogs. It is poor in minerals and quickly loses fertility after extraction. On its basis, transport soil is prepared in which plants are transported, and which is also used by our nurseries. Its advantage is lightness, hygroscopicity, and breathability. The disadvantages include such a high ability to retain water that at a certain soil moisture the roots no longer absorb it; on the contrary, after complete drying it is difficult to get wet. Soils based on high-moor peat serve as a substrate for almost all indoor flowers.

Soils based on lowland peat. Such peat is extracted from low-lying swamps, wetlands of rivers and lakes. It is heavy, richer in minerals, which, however, are released slowly. In its pure form, it is better not to use it for transplanting indoor flowers, since it remains wet for a long time, has a fine structure and quickly cakes, making it difficult for air to reach the roots and causing them to rot. It can only be used as a component in the preparation of soil mixtures.

Soils based on vermicompost. Vermicompost is obtained by processing manure with certain lines of earthworms; it not only contains a high percentage organic matter, but also beneficial living microorganisms. It is used in small quantities to enrich the earth mixture; it can serve as a replacement for leaf or grass humus.

Many manufacturers offer ready-made primers for different groups plants, however, you should check the recommendations on the composition of the soil for a particular type of plant. Sometimes it is necessary to make adjustments; for this, it is advisable to always have a few more components on hand to prepare the optimal soil composition for a particular plant.

For this you may need:

• sand, which is preferably taken in unpolluted places along river banks, but can also be bought in flower shops. The sand should be sifted through a sieve to remove debris and large stones, and rinsed in water to remove dust and dirt. It serves as a good additional additive to ready-made soils for cacti and succulents, palm trees and other plants, and prevents them from caking.
• sphagnum moss sold in flower shops, its pH is about 4. It is added to prepare loose, light, breathable, acidic substrates for Uzambara violets and other representatives of Gesneriaceae, for aroids, orchids, and azaleas.
• pine bark, which can be bought in a store or collected from cut plants, has a pH of 4-4.5. Before use, it must be boiled for at least 30 minutes. Added to soils for epiphytes, bromeliads, anthuriums, philodendrons and other plants that require a loose, moist substrate. Serves as the only soil component for some orchids, including phalaenopsis.
• coniferous land It is collected under coniferous trees and contains fallen and partially rotted needles. Cones and branches caught in it should be removed. This is loose, poor, acidic soil with a pH of 4-5. Serves integral part for plants that prefer an acidic soil reaction and require increased looseness of the substrate, for example, for precious orchids.
• herbal or leaf humus formed when leaves or grass rot, pH 5-6. Replaces rotted manure, which should not be used for indoor flowers. Serves as a component for earthen mixtures for plants that need enhanced organic nutrition, such as ferns, etc. Vermicompost can serve as an adequate replacement.
• turf land is formed when composting turf, but it can be collected in the forest from fresh molehills, where the soil is loose and practically free of debris and plant roots. IN middle lane turf soil is usually loam. A small amount of clay helps structure the soil and retain moisture. Thanks to its layered structure, clay retains ions and prevents nutrients from being quickly washed out, thereby reducing the amount of fertilizing. When transplanting young plants, you should add a little turf soil, increasing its share as they grow. She happens to be good component soil for palm trees and other plants. It is advisable to add turf soil to prevent rapid (during the day) drying out of the substrate, especially when keeping plants on the balcony in summer.
• charcoal sold in flower shops, included in substrates for orchids, bromeliads and other plants, it should be added to fresh soil when replanting in case of rotting roots. They are sprinkled on wounds and cuts on roots, stems and leaves to prevent the development of rot.

Guided by knowledge of the needs of plants and having ready-made purchased substrates and additional components on hand, you can prepare a soil mixture for almost all indoor flowers. Sometimes they also use perlite, vermiculite, polystyrene foam, mineral wool, foam rubber

Before use, the soil must be subjected to heat treatment, this will eliminate future problems with root nematodes, earthworms, millipedes and other soil inhabitants. A simple way is to place washed raw sand in a layer of several centimeters at the bottom of a large pan, and place the other components of the mixture on top of it. The pan is placed on the stove and heated. Water evaporating from the lower layer of sand in the form of steam warms up the rest of the soil. Steam until the top layer heats up (a 10 liter pan warms up in about 40-60 minutes).

But heat treatment leads to the inevitable death of beneficial soil microorganisms, and without their vital activity, plants cannot absorb organic fertilizers. About a month after transplantation, when the roots have fully recovered, you should begin to populate the soil with special microorganisms and constantly maintain their numbers. They will help with this special drugs, containing living microorganisms, for example Baikal, Vozrozhdenie, Vostok EM-1, as well as organic fertilizers of the Ecostyle brand, containing soil microflora.

Specialized soils for indoor plants

Soil for cacti and succulents
The main requirements for this soil are water permeability and poor nutrients. Such soils contain a large amount of sand (about half), the rest may be high-moor peat and leaf soil. For cacti, you can add a little more coarse sand to the purchased soil.
For a group of forest cacti, a universal soil based on high-moor peat is quite suitable.

Soil for orchids
Purchased soils for orchids usually contain several components - peat, sphagnum, coal, bark. The greatest confusion occurs with these substrates. There is no single soil for orchids, since among them there are groups of different habitats. For terrestrial orchids, purchased soil meets the requirements, but there are epiphytic orchids that live on trees; such soil is absolutely not suitable for them. For this group it is necessary to use only bark, sometimes sphagnum moss and coal, but in no case should peat be added. It’s easier to buy separately the bark of the required fraction and, after boiling, plant an orchid in it.
Soil for orchids with the addition of high-moor peat (1:1) is optimal for anthuriums, philodendrons, monsteras, and bromeliads.

Soil for bromeliads
Such soils consist mainly of high-moor peat with the addition of leaf soil and sand. To make it more loose, you can add small pieces of bark, chopped sphagnum, pine soil, and coal, or prepare it based on soil for orchids, adding about half of the universal soil based on high-moor peat.

Soil for palm trees
All palm trees love loose and breathable soil; substrates based on high-moor peat with the addition of sand, leaf and turf soil are suitable for them. As the palm grows, more and more turf soil is added to the substrate.

Soil for ferns
Ferns naturally grow in very loose, moist, organic-rich soil. To create a mixture, you can add soil for succulents (peat, sand and low content mineral fertilizers) add leaf humus or soil based on vermicompost (1:1).

Soil for Uzambara violets and other Gesneriaceae
An acidic substrate based on high-moor peat is optimal for this group of plants. It is advisable to add a little sand or perlite, coniferous land, coal, for greater moisture capacity and looseness, it is good to add chopped sphagnum.

Soil for gardenias
It is advisable to add approximately equal parts of leaf soil (or humus soil) and coniferous soil to a purchased substrate for gardenias, consisting of high-moor peat and sand. Be sure to use only acidic mixtures.