The health of any houseplant begins with its foundation: the right potting soil mix. According to Yahoo, Sol Soils has the right organic houseplant soil to meet plant parents’ needs, including helping fight root rot.
Travis, the founder of Sol Soils, felt the struggle for good soil personally and built Sol Soils because, in his words, “…no one knows (and cares about) plants like other plant people.”
Plant enthusiast Travis started Sol Soils during the COVID lockdown. Travis and Leah run the business. Both left their corporate roles at Target to work together to build Sol Soils, with Leah leading operations.
*Images sourced from Sol Soils
The Chunky Potting Mix: The Ultimate House Plant Soil to Combat Root Rot
Sol Soils creates premium, proprietary indoor houseplant soil mixes. Its chunky soil is more forgiving, more breathable, and easier for planters of all skill levels, whether you are just starting or “adding your 200th Orchid to the horde.”
Travis realized the houseplant potting soil he and every other plant parent used retained too much water, leading to plant health problems like fungus gnats, root rot, and other soil-borne diseases.
Travis says, “I started getting into mixing my own ‘chunky’ and ‘gritty’ soil mix variations for different plant types, and I never had any issues with plants dying.” Over-watering, under-watering, light, and airflow were no longer issues with Travis’ mix.
*Images sourced from Sol Soils
Chunky Aroid Mix vs. Gritty Mix: Choosing the Right Indoor Plant Mix
Sol Soils chunky potting mix is a chunky aroid mix composed of organic and inorganic materials.
Ingredients include:
- Coconut coir
- Coconut husk chips
- Recycled forest products
- Pumice
- Calcined clay
- Perlite
- Expanded clay
All work together to provide plant parents with the optimal balance of water retention and drainage.
The company’s gritty potting mixes are marketed for dry-weather plants such as cacti, succulents, and bonsai. Intended for less water retention, the bonsai gritty mix contains only one organic ingredient: recycled coconut forest product.
What Makes Sol Soils Houseplant Soil Mix Unique? The Hand-Mixed Difference
The company offers a unique ingredient combination and hand-mixes and bags each houseplant soil package, one cubic yard at a time. Per Sol Soils, the mixes are made with the help of professional agronomists and soil scientists and are to be used as is, with no extra upkeep required.
The company also donates to plant a tree for every bag sold, up to 100,000 trees per year. Under each product on the website, the number of trees currently planted is displayed, currently over 400,000.
“I’ve bootstrapped everything along the way, so one of the larger challenges is being under-funded every step of the way,” Travis adds.
Sol Soils started as a side business selling indoor pot mix for houseplants at farmers’ markets, but it expanded into selling to plant shops and garden center chains. The company now has 3,000 independent retailers across all 50 states. Their focus is on creating a business that scales in every system, ensuring that “doubling the sales doesn’t double the time needed to execute it!”
Sol Soils intends to continue putting down roots and growing into hardware stores, grocery and floral sections, and pet stores, aiming to become a household name.
*Images sourced from Sol Soils
