Opinions on home mixed potting soil

[D. Morrowii]

I’ve been trying out some different potting soils for various palms I’m growing. I dont have much experience so I wanted to see if anyone had an opinion on what I’m using. 

The native soil in my yard is a mixture of coarse sand, sugar sand and coquina shells. I was just mixing 50/50 with store bought MG cactus/palm soil and native. It drains ok but its kind of spongy and probably holds a little too much water. My new mix is:

6 scoops of native

2 scoops of perlite

2 of peat moss

2 of the MG palm stuff

and 2 of some bagged up composty, humis, bat guano stuff. 

Should I add or subtract anything? Change ratios? 
 

Thanks!
 

 

[Steve Mac]

I don't know if this will help.

 

 

[kinzyjr]

@D. Morrowii I'd definitely read the thread from Steve above.  I usually just go with starting seedlings in typical garden center mixes with a bit of perlite added.  This has worked when I only had to leave the seedling in the pot for a few months to a year before it heads out into the yard to start its new life.  The squirrels, rabbits and possums have been particularly aggressive this year, so I've had to give more thought to keeping things in pots longer than I typically do.  This thread and the advice of another grower in Orlando to use bonsai mix on a few of my more xeric species saved three of my Hyphaene.

[D. Morrowii]

7 hours ago, Steve Mac said:

I don't know if this will help.

 

 

Thanks @Steve Mac lots of info in there. It seems like the difficulty is finding the right  balance between aeration, moisture and nutrient holding ability. Not to mention its easier and less expensive if what you use can be sourced locally. I’d really like to split my sand ratio with pumice since it seems to do a little of everything but I can only find small bags of succulent or bonzai mix and they are pricey considering the small quantity. From the post its seems like coir might be something else to try.