Vegans most likely prefer a vegan potting mix, because they have always faced the challenge of trying to know where their food comes from. They prefer to eat food that is nurtured without animal ingredients and strive to buy from farmers that do not support animal agriculture.
However, most of the farmers want to sell their produce and might not look into these concerns when growing plants for the vegans. All they care about is whether the food sells, and this does not go in line with what the vegan world stands for. Below are the following vegan potting mix information.
Finding The Right Vegan Potting Mix
For this reason, vegans are forced to start growing their produce but in containers since they might not have the resources to take on a large-scale farming project. It might seem straightforward, but the challenges come in when you want to find a vegan potting mix that contains zero animal ingredients.
It is important to note that plants do not require the animal products that most farmers use. They are just a cheap and readily available option for potting mix manufacturers. When you look at what animals feed on and what comes out of the other end, it is surprising to see how you would regard that to be organic. These manures contain residues from hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides, among others.
A vegan potting mix is not very complicated as it entails emulating what nature has to offer and building soil fertility.
Soil is a mix of sand, clay, silt, and organic matter in different proportions. The texture depends on how much of each component is present. Other things such as water and gas plus biological process get into the soil and then affect the structure, which determines which plants can grow.
It is essential to take this into mind when creating a vegan potting mix since you want to come up with a mixture that has the right conditions for the plant you want to grow. The soil should be well aerated and drained while still holding the right amount of moisture.
Regular soil from your garden can do the trick, but you might have to change it a bit for it to be lighted and have better moisture retention capabilities. Garden soil is dense. It also contains weeds and potential diseases, meaning that you might be required to sterilize it first before creating the mix.
Plant-Based Fertilizers
Next, you should add plant-based fertilizer to improve the soil and allow your plants to thrive. Some of the conventional fertilizers you can use include;
• Soy meals
• Composted plant material
• Kelp meal
• Mycorrhizae
Mineral-based fertilizers include;
• Limestone
• Elemental sulfur
• Gypsum
• Rock dust
• Green sand
• Rock phosphate
A good potting mix should offer sufficient support to anchor the roots of the plants while allowing the roots to breathe. It should also hold adequate moisture while providing nutrients needed for the plants to grow.
Once you can successfully create a potent vegan potting mix, it becomes easy to grow enough produce for your kitchen and at a low cost. You will end up saving money you would have used to buy the expensive organic products and enjoy your fresh produce that is not associated with animal agriculture in any way.