Which Soil Is Best for Plant Growth

From LoveToKnow Garden

If you want to know which soil is best for plant growth, you need to know that the answer depends on a few things. First, you'll need to determine what type of plant you want to grow. You'll also need to decide if this is for indoor plants or outdoor plants, because the answer is a bit different for each.

Planting tomatoes requires the right soil.

Soil for Indoor Plants

If you're growing houseplants, you might think it's a good idea to simply scoop some soil from your yard to grow your plants in. This is actually a bad idea. Garden soil actually contains bacteria which can be harmful to your houseplants. Here are a few options if you don't want to use commercial potting soil:

Sterilize the Outside Soil

If you opt for your outdoor soil to grow your indoor plants, you'll first need to pasteurize it in order to eliminate any diseases as well as insects and weeds. Spread it on a cookie sheet and bake it in a 180 degree oven for 30 minutes. Note: This will not smell good.

After the soil is sterilized you will likely need to amend it with peat moss and sand. These are things that will allow proper drainage and air flow while still retaining the right amount of moisture. Commercial potting soils are similar in that they include peat moss and vermiculite along with a slow-release fertilizer. Together these things create a soil mix that holds nutrients, retains moisture and provides ventilation for the roots of the plant.

Create Your Own Mix

Another option is to make your own potting soil. You can do this by mixing two parts of peat moss with one part of perlite and one part of sand. Or try two parts of peat moss and two parts of sand.

There are several ways to mix you own potting soil. The mixture you choose may depend on the plant you are growing. For example, Cornell University created some soilless mixes for houseplants.

  • For foliage plants they recommend
    • 1/2 bushel sphagnum peat moss
    • 1/4 bushel vermiculite
    • 1/4 bushel perlite
    • 8 tablespoons of lime
    • 2 tablespoons of superphosphate
    • 3 tablespoons of 10-10-10 fertilizer
    • 1 tablespoon iron sulphate
    • 1 tablespoon potassium nitrate

This mixture is ideal for ferns, coleus, ficus and other houseplants. You can find more mixes on the Clemson University site.

Which Soil Is Best for Plant Growth Outdoors

To grow plants outdoors, you may need to do a bit more work. There are actually three main types of soil: sand, silt and clay. You can learn more about the types of soil by viewing the slideshow on types of soil. The ideal soil for most plants is a rich, sandy loam. Loam is an even mixture of the three main types of soil.

If you are luck enough to have rich, sandy loam you are indeed very fortunate. However, most people have far from the ideal soil. If this is the case for you, you'll need to determine what kind you actually have.

In most cases you will need to amend your soil with compost. Depending on how compact your soil is, you may also want to add peat moss and sand. However, you may not need to go through so much trouble. Which soil is best for plant growth also depends on the plants you want to grow.

Different Plants for Different Soils

If you want flowers and vegetables, sandy loam is best. However, if you have poor soil it is often simpler to just select plants that will thrive in the type of soil you have.

Sandy Soil

Some plants that do well is sandy soil include:

Clay Soil

Clay soil is hard to work with, but there are some plants that do well in it:

  • Aster
  • Bee Balm
  • Butterfly weed
  • Black-eyed Susan
  • Goldenrod
  • Hollyhock
  • Geranium

Silt Soil

Silt is not such a bad soil type to deal with since most plants will grow in it. It can become compacted if you aren't careful. In this case, add some peat moss, grass clipping or other organic matter.

You should also be careful to not work this type of soil if it is wet. This is true of any type of soil because working it while it is wet causes compaction. Compaction means that roots can't get through. This can cause poor growth or the death of your plants.

What Is Best for You

If you make careful choices in the types of plants you add to your landscape, the next time you wonder which soil is best for plant growth, you can confidently say "Mine is!"

There are plants that will grow in any type of soil. The choice is yours now. Will you take advantage of the type of soil you already have or will you work on amending your soil to come closer to that ideal, sandy loam?

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