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I am not looking for definitions or such, but a quick rundown of what is better for soil aeration and drainage? I will need to purchase a few stuff depending on what they do. I already got vermiculite and it's not good for water drainage and succulents.

Coco peat: retains water but improves drainage, right?

Vermiculite: retains water and improves drainage?

Organic matter: Improves aeration and drainage?

Perlite: Aeration and drainage? Perfect for Succulents?

Bone meal?

Vermicompost?

What combination should I use for succulents? I am thinking of organic matter with soil and perlite. What about bone meal and vermicompost? Should I also add them?

I have few succulents and more "normal" plants. So I am confused what I should get, cause I have limitations on what I can buy.

I won't mind if this question gets closed being too broad. Thanks, anyway.

4-K
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coco peat: retains water, improves aeration, not drainage, when used without amendments will need to be buffered or it will steal the magnesium and calcium from your plants. (Buffering not needed when used as an amendment to soil.)

vermiculite: retains water, and provides a very large surface (internal as well as external) for soil life to take hold in.

perlite: improves drainage aeration

bone meal: adds P to the soil, and very little N, and some trace elements

vermicompost: adds soil life, very useful amendment, pretty much can't be added in excess, since it's such a gentle amendment.

organic matter: compost? Soil aeriation, soil life

For succulents you can use regular seedling starter potting mix and sift it out. Toss the compost fibers in the rest of your soil, use the fine stuff to start succulents, or to keep them mix half n half with regular potting mix (also sifted beforehand).

For your other plants, it would help having some specification as to what they are. If it's cannabis, the nutrients you mentioned could used in conjunction with other nutrients to start a super soil, if it's other plants, well, it depends on what they "eat", but it could be done all the same. It's important to know what you are amending too, though. Coco peat isn't soil, for instance, but can be used as a growing medium, but if you amend coco peat without using soil, that's where buffering might become interesting.

Barry Cosemans
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  • Thanks for the answer Barry, I will try to get all of these and make a good mix with least amount of vermiculite. – 4-K Sep 22 '19 at 13:31