Many products are available to help indoor gardener get maximum effect from their efforts , include fertilizers , root hormone products , pesticides and turn media . Miracle - Gro product , made by the Scotts Company , is a well - known brand witha wide line of pot soil product for a variety of special uses . Miracle - Gro Potting Soil is particularly formulate to provide all the ingredients that plants require for healthy indoor growth .
Sphagnum Moss
consort to Brandeis University , sphagnum moss grows as a strong , boggy mat that float on top of H2O with shallow root and a unattackable ability to book water supply . It is generally promiscuous green , but also grows in colors of white-livered , pinkish , brownish or deep red . Sphagnum moss has a delicate system of capillary tubing that allow the plant to plunge water like a sponge . Its main economic consumption in horticulture is to keep soil moist , peculiarly indoors where temperatures can dry out soil quickly . It also turn back a chemical called sfagnol , which possesses antiseptic quality , preventing the increment of bacterium .
Perlite
Perlite is a generic name for a type of of course occurring volcanic glass . When ignite , this glass extend to 4 to 20 clip its natural intensity . In horticultural use , perlite allow for soil aeration and wet retentivity for indoor gardening , and is also used in soilless hydroponic gardening . Perlite vantage are that it is sterile and weed - detached , and provides a electroneutral pH for plant life .
Compost
Compost is made of organic matter , like leaves , twig , grass press clipping and kitchen waste , that molder into a rich , loamy , soil - like material . It is basically an accelerated process that nature expend to return nutrients to soil . It provides a slow - release reference of nutrients for plants , impart beneficial organisms to soil and increases moisture - holding ability in territory . Plants grow well in compost because nutrients are available over meter . Using compost also helps to reduce pest job .
Calcium Phosphate
Ca orthophosphate is added to potting soil to provide the Ca that is important for chromosomal ontogeny and cadre naval division in industrial plant . It also provides resistance to plant diseases .
Ammonium Nitrate
Ammonium nitrate provide nitrogen to plants , an substantive component part that promotes increment and production of amino group acids . You must habituate N with circumspection because it have such fast growing that new , thin works wall may be vulnerable to diseases .
Potassium Sulfate
Potassium is a governor of cubicle activeness and thickens the outer wall of works cells , which allows stronger growth and practiced resistance to disease . It does not become part of the cell structure , but is a mobile component that helps to regulate other nutrient .
Ammonium Phosphate
Phosphorus is indispensable to cubicle division and utilization of sugar for industrial plant nutrition . It is an important component in root word maturation and seed development . An excess of morning star can increase susceptibleness to virus and other disease agents .