When planning your healthy garden, the preparation of soil will be a key component in determining your ultimate success. At Solar Innovations, Inc. our greenhouse experts decided to create their own mix of soils for the project. After much experimenting, they found a mixture of three soils they believed would work best. The first soil added  was  a “Pro Mix” brand soil that is designed specifically for use in greenhouses and contains biofungicides and mycorrhizae. The biofungicides are microorganisms (microbial pesticides) and other natural substances that are used to control diseases. These biofungicides are approved for organic production.A professional mix won’t only give your plants a healthy start, but it will also allow you to have a better control over your plants growth pattern.The mix also included mycorrhizae, which are also know as fungi. The fungi are beneficial to plants as they grow around or in the plants root systems and help fight diseases.There are two types of mycorrhizae (ecto and endo) found in the soil. The “ecto” are more beneficial to trees and shrubs, while the “endo” are more beneficial to greenhouse plants.The second soil added was our own mixture consisting of sand, perlite, and other organic materials. Finally, we mixed in organic compost and pear moss. We combined these three soils to create the most effective soil for our herb and tea garden. The factors we took into account were heat retention, moisture retention, growth medium, and what PH balance would work best with out plants. Please note that the “Pro Mix” brand soil is slightly more expensive than your average soil, but it pay off in the long run.Please feel free to alter and experiment to find the soil mixture that fits your needs.