Hello, I wanted to get your free guide so I put in my email and it sent me to your paid course. I didn’t see your free pdf. Now I want to be very frank with you but not rude. I do not consent to you using or selling my email in anyway outside of receiving that free plant guide. I actually would like you to delete it from any records you may have if it weren’t just for the purposes of sending the guide. Respectfully understand that I’ve just now going through a life changing event of hackers/data leaks that have cost me everything. I don’t know how to express to you my concerns and fears regarding this issue. If it was a mistake then that’s fine but as for anyone other than you know my email then that was not my understanding of this situation. Thank you for the video and information it provided I will continue to view them and wish you the best of luck .
@@MrJohnchandler you should have got the guide straightaway. Check your spam. I don’t sell your email to anyone or anything like that. Just send newsletters and the occasional offers. Unsubscribe at any time
I had a few gnats so I sprayed the top of the soil on all my plants in the bedroom with oxigen peroxide added to water every couple of days for about a week and they're all gone now. Try it! My mortal enemy are the fruit flies in the summer (without leaving any fruit outside they just appear every year) but I started using the yellow sticky tapes around the kitchen this year and it worked like magic - so thank you!😊
I don't know, maybe I'm 'special', but I don't really have any of these issues. I use the lowest price potting mix from my local supermarket and mix it with perlite, varying the ratio according to the plant's preference. Botanists will tell you that soil fungus is necessary for plants to uptake nutrients. The fungi act as a sort of chemical interface that works with the roots. Recent studies have shown that in a forest, trees literally 'communicate' with one another (even among different species). (To quote Gimli: "What do trees have to talk about besides the consistency of squirrel droppings?") Yeah, sure, you can grow plants in other ways, but most of them involve a lot of fooling around that I'm too lazy to get into. The only time I had a major issue with fungus gnats was when I purchased some potting soil from one of those 'dollar' stores. I was inundated with them. First went for the sticky traps, but that wasn't getting them all. I used a 50/50 watering solution of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for about three watering cycles and committed fungus gnat genocide! Never bought that soil again (I'm not THAT stupid) and never had a single gnat since. (Safety note: peroxide is extremely toxic. Keep it away from anything too ignorant to know better, like animals and kids.) Air circulation is very important. We're trying to 'fool Mother Nature' (anyone remember that advert?) and that means keeping the air moving in your home, which is does in the 'real' world all the time. This is more of problem in winter or summer, when you're running heat or AC. Otherwise, open a damned window! I keep a fan running during those times when it's too hot or cold and I don't want that expensively heated/cooled air escaping. In fact, although it was chilly this morning, it's warmed up a bit and I"m getting up to open a window now! I think a lot of people make keeping house plants a lot bigger deal than it needs to be. One must have some patience, your little rooted cutting you got from the big box store isn't going to grow six feet tall in one season. I have a rather small flat and frankly I don't want giant plants taking up all my living space....need room for the human too. If you've branched out into trying some of the fussier green buddies, you need to know you've got the right conditions for them or know you can create those conditions without turning your house into a conservatory. Unless, of course, you happen to have a conservatory, in which case, God bless you and can I come live with you?
Yeah, don't overthink it. For most plants I just use potting mix (no perlite or anything, except for a couple of particularly fussy plants). I never fertilise and I never over-water. I often under-water... if I notice a plant is starting to look a bit sad, that's when I water it. I don't use air conditioning, I rarely use a heater ("heat the person, not the room") and I almost always have a window open. My plants don't grow super fast, but they do look great. House plants are easy 🤣 I think the main things to focus on are getting the lighting right and not overwatering.
@@mrdeanvincent I agree that too many people seem to think fast growth is a good thing. It's the 'bigger and faster ' syndrome. I do think one should understand each plant's needs and try to meet those, but I figure plants have been growing in dirt for a few million years and it seems to have worked out for them.
I grow all my plants and props in semi hydro. When I buy a new one, it goes straight out of soil into nutrition solution and once I see the roots are happy to live in water, I will transfer the plant into perlite, pon or leca. My alocasia frydek arrived a month ago, well rooted in soil. As soon as she entered my home, I moved her from soil to nutrition solution. No signs of root rot and she is currently growing 6 corms at the same time. Busy girl ❤ I wanted to move her to leca after few months but maybe I will just keep her this way and enjoy watching growing new babies from my front row seat. In the last two-three days, some of the corms started to put out green stuff which I guess will be the petioles. I love watching plants to grow 😍
Meaning you would have too much fertilizer in not enough potting medium. But if when you say compost you actually mean soil then you're still wrong. If you take soil from outside and use that it can go either way but it depends on the composition of the soil and the plant needs.
Totally accept what you are saying, just confused about nutrition - 6 mins in you mention fertiliser but would be good to have elaborated on this. Thanks for a useful video 😊
I’m old - I’m also a gardener, big garden, not quite so active, but I’ll still root around for what soil to use, for what plant. When my kids were little my son brought back 6 cactus from the canaries, I made a 50/50 mix of grit sand, & Sandy soil where nettles proliferate. 25 years on they are doing great. I never buy anything man made, it must be god given. I source everything from my garden. In October I bring my Curley parsley indoors, kept in the porch to stop it bolting. We grow Ginger & Curcumin as house plants, they thrive in the bathroom & wet room, planted in recycled 14 inch pots that fruit trees came in. Very exotic foilage & if you haven’t cooked with homegrown ginger or turmeric, you haven’t lived. My motto is, if nettles thrive in it, so will most everything else. I load my cement mixer with it, throw in a bit of the ashes from my garden bonfire & any rich organic matter from my compost heaps, or kitchen composter. On gardeners world, a guy used a microwave to heat his mix to kill pests in his organic house plant mixes,prior to planting. Seemed like a lot of hard work. I just plant them, stand in a large plasterer flexi bucket, fill with tepid water and submerge overnight, let them drain well & don’t water again until they cry for it. I also long ago learned that my out door pot plants, (all edibles) can only be kept alive with tap water, where as rain water tends to make them thrive, the difference is phenomenal. Save rainwater, bring it inside in 5 litre water bottles, and let it acclimatise overnight before using it. Rarely have gnat probs, the spiders eat em! Rosemary makes a great houseplant too, great for the bedroom. Grow as much Rosemary as you can, indoors and out. Prune the young growing tips as an EXTREMELY healthy deodorant. Cut a sprig into 8 x 2cm cuttings, put between your toes & carefully put socks over, before bed. Next day your sinus are in excellent shape & you are aware of the rosemary with every breath you take, your thinking is also crystal clear.
I usually do a bag of soil then add a mix of coconut husk, Leca, and Perlite, and lava rock until the soil can’t clump when you try to make a ball with it. Really anything you add is GOING to help.
I use coconut coir in my 3×3 ft raised bed planter outside. I mix it in the soil. Great for keeping the soil loose and moist. I shred brown paper bags and use the shreds as mulch on top around my plantings. I rarely need to water.
The gnats can get annoying, I added a bug zapper at night and it takes care of a few which helps as well. I also tried so many soils as I was learning, now over 200 plants and still learning new stuff. I still use compost but I do add in all the extras and coco coir etc. I have a few plants in water that do well, some have no substance with them, just water and do great. A couple of them I have the leca beads but after a while they tend to get harder to care for. I moved a few plants from water back to soil more recently.
Yes, we learned the hard way that compost decays, using up the oxygen but also creates methane killing the plant even faster. Most of the plants in our greenhouse have now been converted to a soilless mix and are thriving. We do add a bit of charcoal as well.
I have a bunch of large tropicals (musa basjoo, monstera, Christmas palms, dragon trees, arabica, citrus, bird of paradise). They go outside for six months and come back inside for six months). I use soil but amend with LOTS of perlite and desert plant mix. I always use a root wash right before I haul all those planters indoors. I’m on year three and haven’t lost a plant yet. Also, keeping them a bit drier when inside has meant I have t had any mold.
Just came here to say: love the channel, watched a lot, learned a lot. I'm still using 30-100% of my self-made garden compost (sifted and cured for a year) without any gnat problem ever. Sometimes there are earthworms from the many worm castings, they loosen up the soil even in a small pot. However, aroids seem to grow better with less than 100% compost. And soil, like topsoil from the garden, is just very bad - I had an avocado almost dying for two years until I gave it different substrate. TL;DR: compost can work, awesome channel, have a nice day :-)
Against gnats I now cover the soil, which consists of a mixture 30/70 of ground lava and soil bought at supermarket (I live in a sub-tropical area), with small lava gravel and water the plants using the dishes at the bottom. However, most of my indoor plants are Sanseverias (Snake plant), which are very easy to maintain.
I have lots of plants and many of them have been/are dying probably because of the soil I used. I was going mad to find out the reason for having them infested by bugs or other diseases, but you probably gave me a good hint!
I use cloth pots. It allows the soil to be aerated at all angles, and prevents root binding. You can use it with pretty much any plant and soil. I've tested with mostly Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and several kinds of coco peat. Also, if you're planning on raising a plant in a pot and then planting it outside later, most cloth pots are biodegradable, so you can just plant it pot and all into the ground.
I've grown houseplants in compost for years and they've done just fine. No mould, no water logging. Granted I've not grown anything exotic with more complex needs, but then I don't see it as any different other than tailoring your soil or compost mix in a pot in the garden or amending your soil. The conditions are different but not alien. I've also had fungus gnats once in all that time, on one plant. Big fuss.
Of course it also depends on where one lives. Some climates are more forgiving. For instance, I live in Greece, so sunlight is plenty and windows are open for quite a bit every day for most of the year. And in the summer there are fans working. Despite that, I'm too lazy to have indoor plants. I have a beautiful large terrace facing south-east (morning sun) and two small balconies facing north-west (afternoon sun), so I do all my gardening outside. I think twice in twenty years it was so freezing cold that I took some of the small pots inside. But there are few small pots. Most are huge pots: jasmine, bougainvillaeas, super-tall yukkas and the like. Not to mention the herbs and vegetables. On the back balcony there's Cestrum nocturnum, honeysuckle, passifloras and wisteria, although they don't often flower, the sun is not enough - only this year they did, but this year was a pervert. I believe in keeping mostly local species, or at least those that belong to the same parallel as you and can happily adapt to your climate. I'm not a botanical garden and I don't feel the need for exotic, high-maintenance species, no matter how beautiful.
some great guidance here. this is obviously going to be very regional. I live in phoenix AZ and dont have mold issues with soil due to the dryness and AC usually running.
I have a beautiful Aglaonema "Eyecatcher" whose leaves were gradually going watery and turning brown. I re-potted it in special tropical plant compost (which looks like it's got bark chips and coir in it) with a load of perlite in it and suddenly the problem stopped and it is regrowing leaves well. I need to do the same for my Philodendron "White Wave" as well.
Thank you very much for sharing all this information for free! You are running one of my favourite channels on RUclips. Your humour and editing are just the best!
I found this spray for fleas which is essentially like a flea bomb, idk what you call it overseas, but it was in a spray can, I sprayed down the floor of my basement where all my plants are and i did a shot to the topsoil of each plants and bugs are all but nonexistent down there. My grow medium mix is also 50% vermiculite 50% peat moss which dries very quickly. Because of the peat moss if you let it dry too much getting it hydrated again properly is almost impossible so be careful if you do this. Not a medium to drought stress with.
I start bedding plants like tomatoes and peppers in potting soil when they get bigger I transfer them into 1 gallon pots with a 50% mixture of compost and 50% peat moss and water with a dilute water soluble fertilizer. The plants grow like weeds, the cost of the compost and peat moss is a fraction of potting soil.
I’m basically doing chonky aroid mix with Fox Farm soil (the mix depends on the plant, container and such) and everyone is doing amazing and I got rid of nearly all the gnats in my place. For me, soil is fun and way easier than semi hydroponics. Coconut coir and chunks are your friend as is chonky orchid bark. Especially with my Hoyas.
I rarely have issues. Normally i pick rocks from street. Now i am recycling used hemp robe as coconut fiber. It is crazy expensive and polluting buy perlite, coco, sand and al those stuff when you have similar things everywhere
This problem comes from improperly aged compost not from compost itself. I do see the possible benefits of going hydroponic (which is what this video suggests), but a good, properly formulated soil will work wonders just like it has for centuries. Nowadays we know better and I do pasteurize my properly made compost in the microwave adn if necessary (it rarely is though) adjust pH. But it's still less hassle and more environmentally friendly than switching your entire plant collection to fertilizer-dependant hydroponics.
I break down my food scraps using a bokashi bin, then into a soil factory to become dirt. I just use a sprinkle now and when when repotting. I wouldn’t fill a whole container with it. it does stay wet for longer so maybe I need to dilute it more…
I can just agree on the choice to go with semi hydro. I have now most of my plants in zeolite. For years I struggled with gnats. Nowadays I put a layer of sand on top of the substrate for all the plants that are not semi hydro, like my snakeplant or jadeplant. Around 2 cm of sand and then only watering from the bottom. Since then I have no gnats anymore. I did needed to change some pot choices because of the sand on the top. So laced ceramic does not do very well. But standard nursery pots and terrcotta pots work perfectly fine. It did feel great to take all the ugly yellow stickers away 😄
Great video Mr. Sheffield! Re gnats - I've gone same way as you but also doing bottom watering - gnats eliminated completely within 4 months (and during winter in southern hemisphere which is extra humid). Give it a try, give us an update 😊🙏🏼
I love your channel, I stumbled across you a couple months ago and have been binging plant care since! Also… that was one of my favorite lines from Harry Potter lol
I use pumice, scoria, zeolite and depending on the plant I add scoir or some peat. In hindsight I do not recommend this though. All my plants grow incredibly vast and are hard to keep up with. For small trees (bonsai etc) it's great because they grow a lot slower, for most plants you might want to restrict growth. If you have the time and want super healthy plants that grow fast, you can use my mixture. If you just want some decoration plants, restrict them a bit. For even more growth use porous growth-sacks instead of pots. Hypertufa also works well.
The most annoying thing is BUGS. Especially mealy bugs (Pseudococcidae). They ruin every palm and love to eat my orchids too. Worst pest ever for indoor plants.
Cheers mate, good bits of info right there! If you don't mind, could you tell me the name of the song in the background, starting at roughly 5:30? Thank you!
Hi, I live in the United States and the bag of soil can’t be delivered here. Please help me as to what to buy in the States that is as good as what you use. Thank you so much for your videos! Your Awesome!❤️
I make my own using equal parts Cactus soil, Orchid bark, & Perlite. All of my plants do quite well. & I bottom water until the top soil is damp, & letting it dry 1-2" in between waterings. Bottom watering helps to keep the soil from becoming hydrophobic.
Add vermiculite in your aroid mixture for alocasias who don’t like to dry out and you don’t want to water every 3-4 days. It will give you a little water retention
Randomly got this video recommended. Seems like your channel is about indoor plants. I have never done any kind of gardening, but I'm really interested in adding some plants inside my house. I wonder if you have some guides and tips on how to start.
"Artificially inseminate air spaces"??????? Um, not quite the right word. "Create" or "make" or "instill" or even "Introduce". But "Inseminate"??? What've you got on your mind? LOL
Welp, I chopped up my weird growing rubber tree plant and now have 2 cuttings with beautiful strong, abundant roots. Please tell me exactly what growing medium to use. Please? And thank you! And the original plant has new growth! 😊
@@SheffieldMadePlants I did watch the video. 😁 Sometimes I just need extra reassurance. My plant mama skills have improved greatly since finding your channel. Thank Mrs Sheffield! 🥰
Good Morning Mr Sheffield!! Another great informative video about soil for our babies... I know alot of folks don't want to take the time to bottom water, but it sure seems to help plants and keep fungus gnats at bay. I use a rubber high side winter boot/shoe mat to make it faster for bottom watering and added bonus it makes it easy to take a peek at each plant. Have a great day!!
Is mold and fungus really that big a problem with regular old potting soil IF you use genetic unglazed ceramic pots with a hole at the bottom? These dry out fairly quickly, breathe, and allow drainage out the bottom. So long as you let the soil dry out after a good watering, mold shouldn't be an issue at all.
This video has a lot of useful information, so thank you! Not all of it was useful though. Some of what you mentioned are “facts” that I know to be false, at least false when spoken the way you worded it. For example, you mentioned plants needing oxygen, as they were essentially drowning from the water occupying all of the oxygen space in the pot. The problem with this comment is that plants do not consume oxygen. They do exactly the opposite - they release oxygen after absorbing carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight after undergoing photosynthesis. I only pointed this out to clarify your words for other viewers and to help educate you on how to speak on these topics. Thank you again for all of the wisdom you provided in this video! Gorgeous plants btw!!
I keep a bin in my solarium with water for my plants. It's a mix of rainwater, aquarium water, water from boiling pasta and things like that, water from cups that have been sitting around, and water from when I'm running the tap and waiting for it to get hot. There's enough nutrients in there that my hydro plants don't need fert. I do have aquarium fertilizer on hand in case though. The best way to have zero care for your plants is if you grow them in an aquarium. You can have an aquarium with some easy cheap plants and snails and no fish. No need to feed the tank. Trust me, your snails will be eating, pooping, and breeding constantly without you feeding them even once (ik from experience).
Have you ever seen yellow mold in a plant?. My ivy had it top and bottom. They are also known as yellow mushrooms . Reported it and that began the mess. Repot again use new everything, we will see. It was too wet I think.😮
Just to be clear, compost is fine as part of a well-draining mix with gravel and sand right? I have lots of substrate types in half-used bags from aquarium and ecosystem projects, and I try to re-use resources to make mixtures.
It's better yes but i'm not a fan indoors because of the gnat issue. Coco coir is a better medium i think. Probably worth using up what you have though
Just a small heads up about perlite; It'a vulcanic rock/glass, be wary of handling it without a mask ! (to protect your airways from inhaling small glass particles)
Why don't you come to my indoor cannabis grow and tell me not to use soil! If you know what you're doing, soil is the best medium indoors and outdoors. But it seems like you're making vids for beginners/amateurs, which rocks. Keep doing it, the vid was VERY WELL made.
Have you ever considered a semi-hydro mineral based substrate? It kind of has the same benefits as perlite, but with a few extra benefits along with being a bit darker, so you get less algae ontop of it.
Hãy dùng vỏ trứng đập nhỏ thay thế đá trân trâu nếu không muốn có rêu xanh ( phân trộn 10~20%+ vỏ trứng dạng hạt 50~90% ,50% và thêm mụn dừa , giá thể này hợp với cây làm tiêu đề video
Or, you can make sure all your pots have a drainage hole and a dish to catch excess water, and you won't have root rot. PS: Plant pots without a drainage hole should be outlawed ;)
What if you tried decomposed granite? It provides exceptional drainage, while also retaining water. No organic matter, no fungus gnats (for the most part). The problem is you'd need more fertiliser
Can anyone please identify the plant with the lovely close up shot at the 8:15 point? I have one just like it, and a cream & green version, and don't know the names. Thanks!
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Download my FREE Plant Parent's Troubleshooting Handbook 👉 resources.sheffieldmadeplants.com/handbook
Hello, I wanted to get your free guide so I put in my email and it sent me to your paid course. I didn’t see your free pdf. Now I want to be very frank with you but not rude. I do not consent to you using or selling my email in anyway outside of receiving that free plant guide. I actually would like you to delete it from any records you may have if it weren’t just for the purposes of sending the guide. Respectfully understand that I’ve just now going through a life changing event of hackers/data leaks that have cost me everything. I don’t know how to express to you my concerns and fears regarding this issue. If it was a mistake then that’s fine but as for anyone other than you know my email then that was not my understanding of this situation. Thank you for the video and information it provided I will continue to view them and wish you the best of luck .
@@MrJohnchandler you should have got the guide straightaway. Check your spam. I don’t sell your email to anyone or anything like that. Just send newsletters and the occasional offers. Unsubscribe at any time
Hi, what do you think which combination of the potting mix is the best for Indoor Geraniums? Thanks
You give me courage to buy plants again. I gave up, but I see now I was doing everything wrong. Thank you so much for this wonderful video!
You bet!
I plant all my plants in soil with a cactus mix. Works beautifully! Lots of drainage.
@prettybrwneyez7757 same. But I just add a little sand and save some money
All my plants love me, they say I'm a real fungi.
🤪
😂
10/10 reference. Would read again.
😂😂😂when I had my shroom faze my uncle would say that and I never got it when I found out it was a simple play on words I found it hilarious
Haha😅
I had a few gnats so I sprayed the top of the soil on all my plants in the bedroom with oxigen peroxide added to water every couple of days for about a week and they're all gone now. Try it! My mortal enemy are the fruit flies in the summer (without leaving any fruit outside they just appear every year) but I started using the yellow sticky tapes around the kitchen this year and it worked like magic - so thank you!😊
They’re fungus gnats. They eat fungus and lay 300 eggs per week.
fly screens
Water + vinegar + dish soap in a glass works well as a trap for them too
I don't know, maybe I'm 'special', but I don't really have any of these issues. I use the lowest price potting mix from my local supermarket and mix it with perlite, varying the ratio according to the plant's preference. Botanists will tell you that soil fungus is necessary for plants to uptake nutrients. The fungi act as a sort of chemical interface that works with the roots. Recent studies have shown that in a forest, trees literally 'communicate' with one another (even among different species). (To quote Gimli: "What do trees have to talk about besides the consistency of squirrel droppings?")
Yeah, sure, you can grow plants in other ways, but most of them involve a lot of fooling around that I'm too lazy to get into. The only time I had a major issue with fungus gnats was when I purchased some potting soil from one of those 'dollar' stores. I was inundated with them. First went for the sticky traps, but that wasn't getting them all. I used a 50/50 watering solution of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for about three watering cycles and committed fungus gnat genocide! Never bought that soil again (I'm not THAT stupid) and never had a single gnat since. (Safety note: peroxide is extremely toxic. Keep it away from anything too ignorant to know better, like animals and kids.)
Air circulation is very important. We're trying to 'fool Mother Nature' (anyone remember that advert?) and that means keeping the air moving in your home, which is does in the 'real' world all the time. This is more of problem in winter or summer, when you're running heat or AC. Otherwise, open a damned window! I keep a fan running during those times when it's too hot or cold and I don't want that expensively heated/cooled air escaping. In fact, although it was chilly this morning, it's warmed up a bit and I"m getting up to open a window now!
I think a lot of people make keeping house plants a lot bigger deal than it needs to be. One must have some patience, your little rooted cutting you got from the big box store isn't going to grow six feet tall in one season. I have a rather small flat and frankly I don't want giant plants taking up all my living space....need room for the human too. If you've branched out into trying some of the fussier green buddies, you need to know you've got the right conditions for them or know you can create those conditions without turning your house into a conservatory. Unless, of course, you happen to have a conservatory, in which case, God bless you and can I come live with you?
Yeah, don't overthink it. For most plants I just use potting mix (no perlite or anything, except for a couple of particularly fussy plants). I never fertilise and I never over-water. I often under-water... if I notice a plant is starting to look a bit sad, that's when I water it. I don't use air conditioning, I rarely use a heater ("heat the person, not the room") and I almost always have a window open. My plants don't grow super fast, but they do look great. House plants are easy 🤣 I think the main things to focus on are getting the lighting right and not overwatering.
@@mrdeanvincent I agree that too many people seem to think fast growth is a good thing. It's the 'bigger and faster ' syndrome. I do think one should understand each plant's needs and try to meet those, but I figure plants have been growing in dirt for a few million years and it seems to have worked out for them.
Very well said.
Well there’s no soil or compost in potting soil mixes…
I grow all my plants and props in semi hydro. When I buy a new one, it goes straight out of soil into nutrition solution and once I see the roots are happy to live in water, I will transfer the plant into perlite, pon or leca. My alocasia frydek arrived a month ago, well rooted in soil. As soon as she entered my home, I moved her from soil to nutrition solution. No signs of root rot and she is currently growing 6 corms at the same time. Busy girl ❤ I wanted to move her to leca after few months but maybe I will just keep her this way and enjoy watching growing new babies from my front row seat. In the last two-three days, some of the corms started to put out green stuff which I guess will be the petioles. I love watching plants to grow 😍
Compost isn't soil. In nature, plants don't grow in compost. Add compost over the top of soil or go semihydro.
Compost is a broad term
@SheffieldMadePlants I agree, and so is soil. Most of what is sold as soil isn't fit to grow plants if you have to change it after 6 months to a year.
I took about 1/3 off the bottom of the soil/roots of a few plants and replaced it with some compost. So far, so good.
@@SheffieldMadePlantsFalse. Compost is decayed organic material used as a plant fertilizer.
Meaning you would have too much fertilizer in not enough potting medium. But if when you say compost you actually mean soil then you're still wrong. If you take soil from outside and use that it can go either way but it depends on the composition of the soil and the plant needs.
Totally accept what you are saying, just confused about nutrition - 6 mins in you mention fertiliser but would be good to have elaborated on this. Thanks for a useful video 😊
I’m old - I’m also a gardener, big garden, not quite so active, but I’ll still root around for what soil to use, for what plant. When my kids were little my son brought back 6 cactus from the canaries, I made a 50/50 mix of grit sand, & Sandy soil where nettles proliferate. 25 years on they are doing great.
I never buy anything man made, it must be god given. I source everything from my garden. In October I bring my Curley parsley indoors, kept in the porch to stop it bolting. We grow Ginger & Curcumin as house plants, they thrive in the bathroom & wet room, planted in recycled 14 inch pots that fruit trees came in. Very exotic foilage & if you haven’t cooked with homegrown ginger or turmeric, you haven’t lived. My motto is, if nettles thrive in it, so will most everything else. I load my cement mixer with it, throw in a bit of the ashes from my garden bonfire & any rich organic matter from my compost heaps, or kitchen composter.
On gardeners world, a guy used a microwave to heat his mix to kill pests in his organic house plant mixes,prior to planting. Seemed like a lot of hard work. I just plant them, stand in a large plasterer flexi bucket, fill with tepid water and submerge overnight, let them drain well & don’t water again until they cry for it. I also long ago learned that my out door pot plants, (all edibles) can only be kept alive with tap water, where as rain water tends to make them thrive, the difference is phenomenal. Save rainwater, bring it inside in 5 litre water bottles, and let it acclimatise overnight before using it. Rarely have gnat probs, the spiders eat em! Rosemary makes a great houseplant too, great for the bedroom. Grow as much Rosemary as you can, indoors and out. Prune the young growing tips as an EXTREMELY healthy deodorant. Cut a sprig into 8 x 2cm cuttings, put between your toes & carefully put socks over, before bed. Next day your sinus are in excellent shape & you are aware of the rosemary with every breath you take, your thinking is also crystal clear.
I usually do a bag of soil then add a mix of coconut husk, Leca, and Perlite, and lava rock until the soil can’t clump when you try to make a ball with it. Really anything you add is GOING to help.
I use coconut coir in my 3×3 ft raised bed planter outside. I mix it in the soil. Great for keeping the soil loose and moist.
I shred brown paper bags and use the shreds as mulch on top around my plantings.
I rarely need to water.
Haha! Who'd have ever thought I'd be watching a vid on planting soils and one made in Sheffield at that! :P Good stuff!
The gnats can get annoying, I added a bug zapper at night and it takes care of a few which helps as well. I also tried so many soils as I was learning, now over 200 plants and still learning new stuff. I still use compost but I do add in all the extras and coco coir etc. I have a few plants in water that do well, some have no substance with them, just water and do great. A couple of them I have the leca beads but after a while they tend to get harder to care for. I moved a few plants from water back to soil more recently.
0:45 - your Pothos is saying hi to us the same way my male cat does LOL
Your title should have been “ never put compost “ in your indoor plant soil.❤
why would he do that that isnt clickbait
Basically, don’t be an idiot and grow anything in pure compost.
@@user-by7hj4dj9s yeah this whole channel is becoming total clickbait nonsense
Yes, we learned the hard way that compost decays, using up the oxygen but also creates methane killing the plant even faster.
Most of the plants in our greenhouse have now been converted to a soilless mix and are thriving. We do add a bit of charcoal as well.
Charcoal (or even ashes but careful with those) is fantastic
whats soilless mix? what did the charcoal do!
I have a bunch of large tropicals (musa basjoo, monstera, Christmas palms, dragon trees, arabica, citrus, bird of paradise). They go outside for six months and come back inside for six months). I use soil but amend with LOTS of perlite and desert plant mix. I always use a root wash right before I haul all those planters indoors. I’m on year three and haven’t lost a plant yet. Also, keeping them a bit drier when inside has meant I have t had any mold.
I use neem oil mixed with dish soap and water to get rid of gnats. It works great.
How do you use this mixture?
@@salgido usually by spray bottle when I used to do it
I use the same stuff, depending on the plant/issue I just water the plant with it.
Just came here to say: love the channel, watched a lot, learned a lot. I'm still using 30-100% of my self-made garden compost (sifted and cured for a year) without any gnat problem ever. Sometimes there are earthworms from the many worm castings, they loosen up the soil even in a small pot. However, aroids seem to grow better with less than 100% compost. And soil, like topsoil from the garden, is just very bad - I had an avocado almost dying for two years until I gave it different substrate. TL;DR: compost can work, awesome channel, have a nice day :-)
Thank you 🙏
Against gnats I now cover the soil, which consists of a mixture 30/70 of ground lava and soil bought at supermarket (I live in a sub-tropical area), with small lava gravel and water the plants using the dishes at the bottom. However, most of my indoor plants are Sanseverias (Snake plant), which are very easy to maintain.
Thank you! Lots of useful information
There is a new growing media being used in central london office installations, it is called vulcaponics a mix of pumice amd zeolite.
Youre so right, the best way to grow indoors is hydrophonic setup and use LED light technology
Exactly the point he mentioned gnats one flew past my screen.😀
I have lots of plants and many of them have been/are dying probably because of the soil I used. I was going mad to find out the reason for having them infested by bugs or other diseases, but you probably gave me a good hint!
I use cloth pots. It allows the soil to be aerated at all angles, and prevents root binding. You can use it with pretty much any plant and soil. I've tested with mostly Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and several kinds of coco peat. Also, if you're planning on raising a plant in a pot and then planting it outside later, most cloth pots are biodegradable, so you can just plant it pot and all into the ground.
This is incorrect they are not biodegradable. They have plastic fibers woven in.
I have to use a lot of perlite and pumice to make a good quality indoor potting mix. Thanks for sharing 👍
I've grown houseplants in compost for years and they've done just fine. No mould, no water logging. Granted I've not grown anything exotic with more complex needs, but then I don't see it as any different other than tailoring your soil or compost mix in a pot in the garden or amending your soil. The conditions are different but not alien. I've also had fungus gnats once in all that time, on one plant. Big fuss.
They're singing my praises.
Well, they’re not dying.
Exactly the video I was waiting for. Thank yoooou! ❤️🪴
You bet!
Coconut coir is a good substrate. Holds on to moisture well but very good aeration.
This might explain why my peace lily and calathea have been suffering since I repotted them with compost... I'm gonna get some perlite!
My calathea loves being in 3:2:1 mix bark:perlite:potting mix
i always wondered about this! thank you for explaining!!!
Of course it also depends on where one lives. Some climates are more forgiving. For instance, I live in Greece, so sunlight is plenty and windows are open for quite a bit every day for most of the year. And in the summer there are fans working.
Despite that, I'm too lazy to have indoor plants. I have a beautiful large terrace facing south-east (morning sun) and two small balconies facing north-west (afternoon sun), so I do all my gardening outside. I think twice in twenty years it was so freezing cold that I took some of the small pots inside. But there are few small pots. Most are huge pots: jasmine, bougainvillaeas, super-tall yukkas and the like. Not to mention the herbs and vegetables. On the back balcony there's Cestrum nocturnum, honeysuckle, passifloras and wisteria, although they don't often flower, the sun is not enough - only this year they did, but this year was a pervert.
I believe in keeping mostly local species, or at least those that belong to the same parallel as you and can happily adapt to your climate. I'm not a botanical garden and I don't feel the need for exotic, high-maintenance species, no matter how beautiful.
I absolutely love your channel. I’ve unsubscribed from all the others and get everything from here. Thanks SO much. ❤
Thank you 😊
I’ve put one centimeter layer of sand on top and at the bottom of my pots to stop those flies, never seen them again.
some great guidance here. this is obviously going to be very regional. I live in phoenix AZ and dont have mold issues with soil due to the dryness and AC usually running.
I have a beautiful Aglaonema "Eyecatcher" whose leaves were gradually going watery and turning brown.
I re-potted it in special tropical plant compost (which looks like it's got bark chips and coir in it) with a load of perlite in it and suddenly the problem stopped and it is regrowing leaves well. I need to do the same for my Philodendron "White Wave" as well.
Once again, you answered a question i was asking. Brilliant.
Thank you very much for sharing all this information for free! You are running one of my favourite channels on RUclips. Your humour and editing are just the best!
Thank you 😊
@@SheffieldMadePlantsI love your plants and your video,can't you send the cuttings of your variegated monstera
I found this spray for fleas which is essentially like a flea bomb, idk what you call it overseas, but it was in a spray can, I sprayed down the floor of my basement where all my plants are and i did a shot to the topsoil of each plants and bugs are all but nonexistent down there.
My grow medium mix is also 50% vermiculite 50% peat moss which dries very quickly.
Because of the peat moss if you let it dry too much getting it hydrated again properly is almost impossible so be careful if you do this. Not a medium to drought stress with.
I start bedding plants like tomatoes and peppers in potting soil when they get bigger I transfer them into 1 gallon pots with a 50% mixture of compost and 50% peat moss and water with a dilute water soluble fertilizer. The plants grow like weeds, the cost of the compost and peat moss is a fraction of potting soil.
I use the typical universal soil one can find in every shop... and my plants seem to be doing alright
I’m basically doing chonky aroid mix with Fox Farm soil (the mix depends on the plant, container and such) and everyone is doing amazing and I got rid of nearly all the gnats in my place. For me, soil is fun and way easier than semi hydroponics. Coconut coir and chunks are your friend as is chonky orchid bark. Especially with my Hoyas.
I rarely have issues. Normally i pick rocks from street. Now i am recycling used hemp robe as coconut fiber. It is crazy expensive and polluting buy perlite, coco, sand and al those stuff when you have similar things everywhere
I have mostly orchids in bark/moss and then a few hibiscus in super airy potting mix
This problem comes from improperly aged compost not from compost itself. I do see the possible benefits of going hydroponic (which is what this video suggests), but a good, properly formulated soil will work wonders just like it has for centuries. Nowadays we know better and I do pasteurize my properly made compost in the microwave adn if necessary (it rarely is though) adjust pH. But it's still less hassle and more environmentally friendly than switching your entire plant collection to fertilizer-dependant hydroponics.
Microwaving does not sterilise soil/compost.
@@MephitisUK I wrote "pasteurize" not "sterilize".
I break down my food scraps using a bokashi bin, then into a soil factory to become dirt. I just use a sprinkle now and when when repotting. I wouldn’t fill a whole container with it. it does stay wet for longer so maybe I need to dilute it more…
I can just agree on the choice to go with semi hydro. I have now most of my plants in zeolite.
For years I struggled with gnats. Nowadays I put a layer of sand on top of the substrate for all the plants that are not semi hydro, like my snakeplant or jadeplant. Around 2 cm of sand and then only watering from the bottom. Since then I have no gnats anymore. I did needed to change some pot choices because of the sand on the top. So laced ceramic does not do very well. But standard nursery pots and terrcotta pots work perfectly fine.
It did feel great to take all the ugly yellow stickers away 😄
Great video Mr. Sheffield! Re gnats - I've gone same way as you but also doing bottom watering - gnats eliminated completely within 4 months (and during winter in southern hemisphere which is extra humid). Give it a try, give us an update 😊🙏🏼
I love your channel, I stumbled across you a couple months ago and have been binging plant care since! Also… that was one of my favorite lines from Harry Potter lol
Thanks!
I use pumice, scoria, zeolite and depending on the plant I add scoir or some peat.
In hindsight I do not recommend this though. All my plants grow incredibly vast and are hard to keep up with. For small trees (bonsai etc) it's great because they grow a lot slower, for most plants you might want to restrict growth.
If you have the time and want super healthy plants that grow fast, you can use my mixture. If you just want some decoration plants, restrict them a bit.
For even more growth use porous growth-sacks instead of pots.
Hypertufa also works well.
Small layer about 1/5 of the pots volume should be gravel in the bottom, i find does wonders. 3:26
That white mold i think is mycelium which is beneficial
The most annoying thing is BUGS. Especially mealy bugs (Pseudococcidae). They ruin every palm and love to eat my orchids too. Worst pest ever for indoor plants.
Cheers mate, good bits of info right there! If you don't mind, could you tell me the name of the song in the background, starting at roughly 5:30? Thank you!
Try Aquarium Plant fertilizer.. you can even buy the salts (NPK) in dry form and add to water ✊
Thank you so much, all your tips from experience taught me allot😄
Hi, I live in the United States and the bag of soil can’t be delivered here. Please help me as to what to buy in the States that is as good as what you use. Thank you so much for your videos! Your Awesome!❤️
I’ve not tried any in the US
I make my own using equal parts Cactus soil, Orchid bark, & Perlite. All of my plants do quite well. & I bottom water until the top soil is damp, & letting it dry 1-2" in between waterings. Bottom watering helps to keep the soil from becoming hydrophobic.
For fungus gnats I used mosquito bits which uses bacteria to kill the larvae
Add vermiculite in your aroid mixture for alocasias who don’t like to dry out and you don’t want to water every 3-4 days. It will give you a little water retention
Springtails help with mold. These little creatures need moisture, they won't pose a infestation problem. They are the gold standard in terrariums.
is that a huge THICCLY GrowPole in your background? Love it!
Different brand but same thing
Randomly got this video recommended. Seems like your channel is about indoor plants.
I have never done any kind of gardening, but I'm really interested in adding some plants inside my house. I wonder if you have some guides and tips on how to start.
Lots of vids
mollys aroid mix is a great way to grow healthy plants without soil.
"Artificially inseminate air spaces"??????? Um, not quite the right word. "Create" or "make" or "instill" or even "Introduce". But "Inseminate"??? What've you got on your mind? LOL
Very informative. Thank you.
Welp, I chopped up my weird growing rubber tree plant and now have 2 cuttings with beautiful strong, abundant roots. Please tell me exactly what growing medium to use. Please? And thank you! And the original plant has new growth! 😊
A coco coir mix with perlite added
@@SheffieldMadePlants I did watch the video. 😁 Sometimes I just need extra reassurance. My plant mama skills have improved greatly since finding your channel. Thank Mrs Sheffield! 🥰
Never mind I didn't let you finish lol😂
Good Morning Mr Sheffield!! Another great informative video about soil for our babies... I know alot of folks don't want to take the time to bottom water, but it sure seems to help plants and keep fungus gnats at bay. I use a rubber high side winter boot/shoe mat to make it faster for bottom watering and added bonus it makes it easy to take a peek at each plant.
Have a great day!!
Thanks!
are you in australia? maybe rains upside down there?
Is mold and fungus really that big a problem with regular old potting soil IF you use genetic unglazed ceramic pots with a hole at the bottom? These dry out fairly quickly, breathe, and allow drainage out the bottom. So long as you let the soil dry out after a good watering, mold shouldn't be an issue at all.
This video has a lot of useful information, so thank you! Not all of it was useful though. Some of what you mentioned are “facts” that I know to be false, at least false when spoken the way you worded it.
For example, you mentioned plants needing oxygen, as they were essentially drowning from the water occupying all of the oxygen space in the pot. The problem with this comment is that plants do not consume oxygen. They do exactly the opposite - they release oxygen after absorbing carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight after undergoing photosynthesis.
I only pointed this out to clarify your words for other viewers and to help educate you on how to speak on these topics. Thank you again for all of the wisdom you provided in this video! Gorgeous plants btw!!
Thanks. Plant roots need oxygen, not the plants.
I keep a bin in my solarium with water for my plants. It's a mix of rainwater, aquarium water, water from boiling pasta and things like that, water from cups that have been sitting around, and water from when I'm running the tap and waiting for it to get hot. There's enough nutrients in there that my hydro plants don't need fert.
I do have aquarium fertilizer on hand in case though. The best way to have zero care for your plants is if you grow them in an aquarium. You can have an aquarium with some easy cheap plants and snails and no fish. No need to feed the tank. Trust me, your snails will be eating, pooping, and breeding constantly without you feeding them even once (ik from experience).
Have you ever seen yellow mold in a plant?. My ivy had it top and bottom. They are also known as yellow mushrooms . Reported it and that began the mess. Repot again use new everything, we will see. It was too wet I think.😮
Mushrooms are normally ok
Just to be clear, compost is fine as part of a well-draining mix with gravel and sand right? I have lots of substrate types in half-used bags from aquarium and ecosystem projects, and I try to re-use resources to make mixtures.
It's better yes but i'm not a fan indoors because of the gnat issue. Coco coir is a better medium i think. Probably worth using up what you have though
Just a small heads up about perlite; It'a vulcanic rock/glass, be wary of handling it without a mask ! (to protect your airways from inhaling small glass particles)
Orchid soil is great as well
Why don't you come to my indoor cannabis grow and tell me not to use soil! If you know what you're doing, soil is the best medium indoors and outdoors. But it seems like you're making vids for beginners/amateurs, which rocks. Keep doing it, the vid was VERY WELL made.
Mosquito Bits works well to get rid of fungus knats
So just add a drainage layer?
My worst part of my love for plants is my husband and son. But the 20 or so are doing good😊
Have you ever considered a semi-hydro mineral based substrate? It kind of has the same benefits as perlite, but with a few extra benefits along with being a bit darker, so you get less algae ontop of it.
Yeah it’s alright
You need a plate to drain the water. Don't let roots stand in water
How often do you fertilise if you use coir?
I use diluted feed every time I water
Hãy dùng vỏ trứng đập nhỏ thay thế đá trân trâu nếu không muốn có rêu xanh ( phân trộn 10~20%+ vỏ trứng dạng hạt 50~90% ,50% và thêm mụn dừa , giá thể này hợp với cây làm tiêu đề video
What do I do about young plants that aren't ready to be potted up, but the soil is very compact?
Repot them
"horses for courses" just requires knowledge and a bit of work
Excellent
for my veggie garden I make JDAM fertilizer. WOuld that be good for houseplants?
What is it?
Looks like you're over watering the soil / compost tho. This will hit dense media more.
Why do you think that?
@@SheffieldMadePlants because of the sodden media you show in the vid.
When you ditched compost, did you wash it off the roots? I need to reduce gnats! Yes I do use nematodes periodically too.
No didn't think that was necessary
What about mixing with washed sand?
Is there a brand of soil in the United States that you would recommend that doesn't allow mold to grow?
Sorry not that i've used
So it short... what should everyone use?
Just pot them in a smaller pot then put them into a bigger pot so they drain. Mine are fine. Maybe the UK is difference to Aus
Or, you can make sure all your pots have a drainage hole and a dish to catch excess water, and you won't have root rot.
PS: Plant pots without a drainage hole should be outlawed ;)
Or, you can just use cloth pots. Seriously. The entire thing is one big drainage hole and also provides aeration for the roots.
What if you tried decomposed granite? It provides exceptional drainage, while also retaining water. No organic matter, no fungus gnats (for the most part). The problem is you'd need more fertiliser
Like semi hydro?
Can anyone please identify the plant with the lovely close up shot at the 8:15 point? I have one just like it, and a cream & green version, and don't know the names. Thanks!
I believe it’s a Peperomia Obtusifolia.
Yep
@@LouiseW-ob1on Thank you!
@@SheffieldMadePlants Thank you!
The most annoying thing is one runs out of space for more plants