sick and tired of buying soil

[damnlemon]

I am sick and tired of spending a lot of money on soil, I am planning to make my own, where should I start? is plant based(leaves, grass) compost any good or?

[poncirsguy]

I use compost from my compost pile with pine bark mulch,

[damnlemon]

isn't normal compost too strong? I head that it might kill the plants

[pagnr]

Compost can have poor structure for drainage and aeration.
Composted graded pine bark 5mm or more has good structure properties.
Composted food waste, coffee grounds, animal manure, fine sawdust etc can be very fine and eventually compact and lose drainage and aeration in pots.
Compost usually needs to be fully composted thru a few stages and aged for pot mix ( not so much for garden use ).
You can also get structure from inert particles like coarse sand, aquarium gravel or similar that is plant animal safe.
Also perlite, wood chips, clay balls etc.

Look around where you live, what is produced or mined there that is suitable and cheaper than buying from elsewhere.
Sawmills, gravel pits, brickworks, sand quarries, coarse river sand ( can have algae and pythium issues ).
Buying in bulk can also help if you will do a lot of pots. Bales coir can be cheaper overall than smaller paks.

This book is from Australia but will cover making potting mix very well.
https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/_/YG8_AAAAYAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiG_fmQyZD5AhX8S2wGHf9lCMkQ7_IDegQIGhAF

[1rainman]

Where do you live? They sell cheap compost here. The cow manure mixed with wood composted is cheap and pretty good. There is no smell or anything because it composted. Usually there's already some sand in the compost here. I would add some perlite, maybe sand or clay.

They also sell big blocks of peat moss in bulk cheap. Again mix with perlite and sand maybe some compost and you got potting soil. Mulch is also cheap. It roots into compost.

[brian]

What kind of dirt do you have if you dig a hole in the ground?

[poncirsguy]

Ground Zero

[damnlemon]

Thank you for the help guys, much appreciated

What kind of dirt do you have if you dig a hole in the ground?

chernozem but a bit more grey and very fine which makes it dense and prone to root rotting

[sea4]

What about 5-1-1? Perlite is probably the most expensive part, I don’t know if the big bags that hydro stores sell provide cost savings.