Best Long-Term Soil Media for Container Plants

Plants in typical potting soil will decline due to decomposing/rotting material over time as they lose oxygen and stability. Typical bagged soil shrinks as it's made of organic material and breaks down. After hearing about the "Top Pot" mix that avoids these issues and provides plants with the media they need for healthy long-term growth, I sought to make a similar recipe using materials locally available in the Phoenix AZ area. This video covers the process of potting up a mango seedling. The products and ratios are covered in detail.

Watch Gary Matsuoka's video on proper soil:    • What is Perfect Soil?  

If you have access to all of the following and want to copy Top Pot soil ingredients, follow the ratios below.
35% Peat Moss
30% Pumice
20% Perlite
10% Sand (course construction/paver sand)
5% Bio Char

I am using this as a substitute mix devoid of forest products/wood that will not shrink/break down fast like most bagged soils.

Note: As of 10/2022, Home Depot has sharply increased retail prices of decomposed granite and volcanic rock. Coarse sand is a good alternative to decomposed granite. And Summerwinds does sometimes sell pumice, so if you can find that locally, it's a good alternative to the Pavestone black volcanic rock.

peat - 55%
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Premier-Prem...

decomposed granite - 25%
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0-...

all-purpose sand (an alternative to decomposed granite)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/0-5-cu-ft-40...

volcanic rock - 20%
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pavestone...

Perlite (an alternative type of volcanic rock)
https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Hortic...

mango seedling seller (cocotropics239) - https://www.ebay.com/usr/cocotropics239