How to Make Succulent Soil?Yes! It's Possible. Read Our Tricks

We've compiled a complete guide on how to make succulent soil. You only need three ingredients to prepare it. Read ahead to learn more!

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Kelly Adams

April 11, 2021


How to Make Succulent Soil? Yes! It's Possible. Read Our Tricks Thumbnail

What’s This Post About?

Succulents are one of the most admired plants. They are exotic, beautiful, and easy to grow. However, you need to pay attention to their soil if you want to see them prosper.

If you’re someone who has been researching for the perfect way to make succulent soil, then you’re in the right place.

The best ratio of succulents soil has sand, garden soil, and pumice in the ratio 2:2:1. To prepare the soil, you need to have two fractions of sand, two fractions of garden soil, and one fraction of pumice. Mix all these three ingredients, and that’s it! Your succulent soil is ready to be potted.

succulent soil

How to Make the Succulent Soil Mix?

To prepare the perfect succulent soil mix, collect sand, garden soil, and pumice in the ratio 2:2:1. Then use a stirrer to mix all the ingredients until the soil is evenly mixed.

succulent soil preparation process

What Are The Ingredients Needed to Make Succulent Soil?

To make succulent soil, you need garden soil, pumice, and sand. The ingredients are readily available, making it easy for you to make the soil.

In case you can’t find the ingredients nearby, you can even purchase them from Amazon:

  1. Sand
  2. Garden Soil
  3. Pumice

Pro Tip

All these three ingredients hold immense importance in succulent soil. Make sure you skip none of them or replace them with any other ingredient.

Sand

Simple sand is beneficial for succulents as it makes the soil lighter. In other words, if you think the soil is too compact, you can add sand to make it less dense. Apart from that, sand also helps with drainage by adding a grittiness to the soil. When you’re dealing with succulents, you want the soil to have good drainage capabilities.

Mosser Lee ML1110 Desert Sand Soil

I recommend you get sand from here if you can't find it anywhere near your home!

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Garden Soil

Garden soil has an average pH, which is very important for the wellbeing of succulents. It also helps with drainage. Unlike sand, it gives essential nutrients to the soil mix and makes it nutritious for the plant. Garden soil enhances the composition and texture of bare soil. Therefore, it is a necessary ingredient that you must include in the soil mix.

FoxFarm FX14054 Happy Frog Nutrient Rich and pH Adjusted Rapid Growth Garden Soil

Here is a where you can get some nutritious garden soil that will keep your plant fresh and healthy.

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Pumice

Pumice is one of the most used soil ingredients for succulents. Lava rock, when crushed, becomes pumice which acts as a great binding agent for the soil. Pumice has good moisture retention. The tiny pores of pumice store nutrients and moisture for an extended period. It is a pure organic product that helps maintains healthy succulent soil.

Coarse Pure Pumice for Soil

You can get pumice here which is a widely used soil amendment for succulents!

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What Qualities Should the Succulent Soil Mix Have?

The perfect succulent soil mix should permit excellent drainage and be breathable. Moreover, it should also be nutritious enough for the plant’s wellbeing.

succulent pot with soil

Succulent Soil Should Have Good Drainage

The soil mix should ideally have excellent drainage. If the soil retains too much moisture, it can cause root rot. Please remember that succulents don’t need overly moist soil. However, it won’t like excessively dry soil either. The perfect succulent soil mix drains well enough to allow the soil to remain damp but not soggy.

The Succulent Soil Mix Should Be Breathable

Please stick to the recipe we suggest and don’t alter the ratio. If you add too much or too little of the ingredients, you may impact the soil’s density making it too compact or too light. You should know that compact soil is toxic to succulents, as the plant finds it hard to breathe in it. The soil mix must be breathable, or else the plant will suffer.

Potting Mixture Should Be Nutritious

Mixing too little of an amount of garden soil can make your soil mixture less nutritious than necessary. A non-nutritious or even a less healthy soil mixture will not provide enough energy and strength to the succulents as they require. Compromising on the quality of the garden soil will result in poor growth in the succulent.

What Equipment is Needed To Prepare Succulent Soil?

To prepare a succulent mix, you need to have a pair of gloves, a bucket to mix the soil in, a stirrer to mix the ingredients, and a measuring jar. The gloves will help keep your hands clean, the bucket and stirrer will help mix the soil, and the measuring jar will help you get the ratio right!

What is The Importance of Succulent Soil?

A high-quality soil mix is vital for the health of a succulent. Since succulents are typically from arid areas, the soil needs to have good drainage capabilities. The soil should at most be slightly damp but should never be soggy or excessively dry.

Succulents store water in their leaves, stems and stalks. Therefore, they do not need overly moist soil. In fact, soil that is too soggy can cause root rot and kill the plant. Please be kind to your plant if you want to see it flourish.

Our Favourite Ready To Use Succulent Soil Mixes

If you are unable to make succulent soil, or find it too overwhelming, you can consider purchasing a readymade mix. Here are some of our favorites that you may consider for your plant:

Dr. Earth 810 1 cu.-Feet Exotic Blend Succulent Potting Mix

This succulent potting soil is a brilliant purchase that is handmade and will never disappoint you or your plants!

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Espoma AP8 8-Quart Organic Potting Mix

This pure organic mixture of natural ingredients will keep your succulents healthy and strong!

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Espoma Cactus Potting Mix

Espoma potting mix is a pure organic and natural soil mixture

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Keep Reading To Know More!

Succulents are one of the most well-known indoor plants. People fancy planting them because they are incredibly forgiving. To make their soil mix, you need sand, garden soil, and pumice. Mix them in a stirrer with the ratio of 2:2:1, and you’ll get the perfect succulent soil mix.

If you want to learn more about succulents, please read our fantastic post about growing succulents!

How to Grow Succulents? An Extensive Guide with All the Helpful Tips!

Succulents are easy-going, beautiful plants that can survive almost anything. Let's learn more about growing succulents in this post

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By Kelly Adams

Easy Succulents Founder

My name is Kelly and I'm the the founder of Easy Succulents! I'm fascinated by this wonderful plants and I want to share with the world everything I know about them!

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Kelly Adams Picture

Kelly Adams

Easy Succulents Founder

My name is Kelly and I'm the the founder of Easy Succulents! I'm fascinated by this wonderful plants and I want to share with the world everything I know about them!

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