Homemade Potting Soil With Topsoil

Topsoil is a foundational ingredient in homemade potting soil.

Potting soil purchased from the gardening center contains mostly vermiculite, peat moss and perlite. You can replicate the benefits of these ingredients at home by making your own potting soil out of organic compost and top soil. While composted kitchen and garden scraps make the best potting soil, gardeners can also use composted sawdust as the amendment to the topsoil. Once you mix the potting soil, it is necessary to sterilize the soil.

Things You'll Need

• Bucket
• Organic compost
• Topsoil
• Decomposed sawdust
• Hand spade
• Baking pan
• Aluminum foil
• Thermometer
• Clean bucket

Instructions

1. Fill a bucket with one part organic compost or decomposed sawdust and one part topsoil. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.

2. Add water to the bucket, mixing with a hand spade as you add the water, until the mixture is moist to the touch.

3. Spread the compost and topsoil loosely in a baking pan in a layer no thicker than 1 inch. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and put it in the oven.

4. Insert a thermometer into the soil every 15 minutes until it reaches 150 degrees F. Turn off the oven and leave the baking pan in the oven for an extra 30 minutes.

5. Empty the baking pan into a clean container. Repeat until you have sterilized all the compost and topsoil in the bucket. This will produce sterile, homemade potting soil.

References

• Mother Earth News: Make Your Own Potting Soil