Table of contents
- herbal soil
- Mix it yourself
- What herbs want
- default recipe
- Prepare ready mixes
- special cases
- Herb soil in the garden
Herbs not only vary greatly in their flavors and effects, but also in their demands on the soil. Herbal soil is not just herbal soil. Different plants have different needs. When choosing the herbal soil, it is therefore important for which herbs it is to be used. And mixing the soil yourself allows for a much more customized result.
herbal soil
In addition to the right location and optimal fertilization, the plant substrate plays a decisive role in the cultivation of herbs of all kinds. The soil has to meet very specific conditions if the plants are to grow and thrive - regardless of whether they are cultivated in the garden or in a flower pot in the home. It's just stupid that these conditions differ significantly in some cases. Native wild herbs such as dandelion or sorrel require a completely different soil than, for example, thyme, sage and lavender. It is therefore in the nature of things that industrially mixed finished soil from the trade cannot really meet the respective requirements precisely. It is designed to cover as wide a range of herbs as possible. And that may not be optimal for the plants.
Mix it yourself
Against this background, it makes sense to mix the herbal soil yourself. In this way you can be sure to create exactly the substrate that the respective plants need. To do this, however, it is necessary to know their needs. In principle, however, these can be reduced to two factors, namely water and nutrient requirements. To make it clearer: Many ready-made mixtures for herbs from specialist shops or hardware stores have a definite indication high proportion of peat, bark mulch or compost, i.e. they contain materials that can store water extremely well. Parsley feels at home in it, Mediterranean herbs rather not. When mixing herbal soil yourself, it is therefore important to use the right recipe. Basically, the following “ingredients” come into question:
- garden soil
- compost
- peat
- sand or quartz sand
- coir
- potsherds
The decisive question here is what proportion the individual elements should have. And this question can only be answered if you know the water and nutrient requirements of the respective herbs. As a rule of thumb it can be said that herbs with a relatively high requirement also have a high proportion of compost and garden soil, while reducing or even completely eliminating the amount of sand can. Mediterranean herbs in particular, on the other hand, require relatively little water and only a few nutrients. The aim here is to increase the proportion of sand and to do everything possible to ensure that the earth can hardly store any water.
What herbs want
The following overview is intended to give an approximate impression of the requirements of individual herbs in terms of their water and nutrient requirements:
Rather low to moderate need
- anise
- basil
- Mugwort
- savory
- Southernwood
- Verbena
- tarragon
- lovage
- marjoram
- oregano
- rosemary
- sage
- thyme
- lemon balm
Rather high demand
- wild garlic
- watercress
- borage
- dill
- Parsely
The soil for herbs with a rather high need for water and nutrients should always be rich in humus and be able to store water easily. In contrast, herbs with a rather low requirement prefer a permeable, sandy and dry soil.
default recipe
Against this background, it should be relatively clear that your own mixture of herbal soil makes sense, especially for herbs that require both little nutrients and relatively little water. This is generally the case with all Mediterranean herbs. The following composition has proven itself:
- 50 to 55 percent garden soil
- 15 to 20 percent compost
- 30 percent quartz sand
The proportions of garden soil and compost can vary. In the case of herbs with an extremely low nutrient requirement, such as thyme or rosemary, the proportion of compost is simply lower than the proportion of garden soil. In addition, it is also advisable with this mixture to incorporate a so-called drainage. This is especially true if the herbs are not to be cultivated directly in the ground in the garden, but in a planter. A drainage reliably ensures that the water can run off easily and that no waterlogging forms. It usually consists of potsherds placed on the bottom of the vessel. However, for this to work, the bottom of the container must have a drainage hole. It is also advisable to mix the individual components well in order to obtain as loose a herbal soil as possible.
Tip:
Instead of quartz sand, other materials such as lava split, pumice sand or zeolite can also be used. The compost, in turn, can be replaced with a mixture of peat and coir.
Prepare ready mixes
As mentioned, mixing your own herbal soil is particularly suitable for Mediterranean herbs with low water and nutrient requirements. For all other types of herbs, ready-made mixtures from the trade can be used without any problems. Of course, these can also be used as a basis for your own mixture - especially if you don't have access to garden soil and want to grow the herbs in the apartment. You simply replace the proportions of garden soil and compost with the ready mix and add plenty of quartz sand. A ratio A ratio of 60 to 40 (sand) is ideal. It is also important here to loosen the soil extremely well and thus ensure good ventilation and good permeability. In addition, drainage plays a crucial role.
special cases
Certain herbs like it quite luxuriant. They need a lot of water and nutrients. Above all, however, they also thrive wonderfully without a specially prepared herbal soil. These include parsley and tarragon. Normal potting or garden soil is perfectly adequate for these herbs.
Herb soil in the garden
In order to be able to prepare the soil in the garden directly for herbal soil, you first have to be clear about which soil you have there. If the soil is already very sandy, you can usually save yourself adding sand. If, on the other hand, it contains a lot of clay, the addition of sand and intensive loosening are essential. You should also think about laying a drainage system, since clayey soil naturally stores water extremely well.
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