Update a couple hours later. It doesnt even look like its growing out of the soil. Just looks like its sitting on top of it.

{{gwi:202707}}

That does not look like a very good place to try and grow a seed! My opinion is to start over, chuck the peat pots and do yourself a huge favor - buy the best seed starting mix you can find. Plant in pint or quart containers, and start them outside - it's warm enough now and you won't have to worry about damping off or hardening off. Don't cover them, just plant them and water daily, if it isn't raining.

I would also suggest buying some water-retentive gel crystals, if you ask at a garden center they can point you in the right direction. I know it sounds like a big investment for a few seeds, but it takes me years to go through one of those containers of crystals and it will make your gardening experience much more pleasant!

Good luck to you!

I'll sure agree with you there. I want a 100% organic garden, so I chose miracle grow organic soil. When I got home and opened the bag, I was pretty disappointed in the composition of the soil. I figured I would give it a go anyway. That particular cell has the worst as far as debris goes, the rest dont look half as bad.
I thought about scrapping it until my basil plants all germinated, theyre so tiny and delicate I figured if they can find their way up, anything can.
The organic nature of the soil is what caused me to believe this might be a mushroom of some sort. I figured it found its way into the bag and has now sprouted with some added water. Sure is an odd looking thing.

Is that stuff 'organic garden soil' or 'organic potting soil'? I believe that MG makes both and one of them is totally unsuitable for container use.

I'm one who would never recommend the water holding crystals, by the way. Just so you know that there are different options on that. I DO suggest that you use a good, fast draining potting mix, though.

Mushrooms aren't a bad thing to find in potting soils and not unusual at all. Just remove them when they pop up. They can indicate, however, that the medium is too moist...not draining quickly enough. Those peat pots tend to really slow down the drainage process.

Another vote against the water crystals.

"I'm one who would never recommend the water holding crystals, by the way."
"Another vote against the water crystals."

Just curious, why?

Here is my 2 cents worth--on two subjects, so that must give me 4!
re. hydrogel crystals, the research does not support any benefits from their use; also they are a petrochemical ingredient that you are adding to your soil.
As far as seed starting, it is best to use a "seed starting mix"--which includes perlite and vermiculite. It is soil-less, so it does not harbor soil borne pathogens that might strike down those tender new shoots.
Good luck. I would continue with what you have started and try again if things do not go well. It is fun, no matter what happens.

"they are a petrochemical ingredient that you are adding to your soil."

I'm not trying to be a smart***, but I'm not finding this in any of my searches. Do you have a link where I could find this information? I must be looking in the totally wrong direction, because although I find it being used in the petrochemical industry, I find it made from a chemical(s) that you can actually find naturally in certain foods, and produced in other foods when cooked at a high heat. In fact, it's in the coffee I'm drinking right now.
Gel crystals (or their ingredients) are used in diapers, contact lenses, and many other products used in our daily lives.
That's what I'm finding, but I could have started my search with the wrong terms and be off on a wild goose chase. So, I would like to be corrected if correction is warranted...

They can be synthetic or organic.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Myth of Polyacrylamide Hydrogels:

Ok, here's my solicited opinion, based on personal experience and gut instinct, not necessarily scientific.

I don't like them for several reasons. They take a long time to fully expand, more so than just a hydropobic soil. Usually triple-watering is necessary to fully hydrate. They give people, especially those like my Mom with hit-or-miss watering practices a false sense of security. I don't think anything that expands and contracts like that is a good thing in a pot where every square inch should be devoted to something beneficial. They never go away and will eventually find their way into your yard, a landfill or municipal compost. And I just don't like anything that is not normal to the area. Maybe I'm old-fashioned or stuck in the past but I don't "do" perlite, water crystals, vermiculite, peat. There's no way something in a package could be better or even as good as what mother nature provides. (Unless, of course, it's a package of compost or mulch, stuff like that.)

*They take a long time to fully expand AND hydrate.

"Maybe I'm old-fashioned or stuck in the past but I don't "do" perlite, water crystals, vermiculite, peat. There's no way something in a package could be better or even as good as what mother nature provides"

I don't do perlite, water crystals and vermiculite, don't use much peat either but I'm curious about why you don't use peat. I live where there are peat bogs, lots of them that mother nature provides, or are you talking about something totally different?

Sorry to bump this back up, but didn't want to ignore the question.

I'm curious about why you don't use peat. I live where there are peat bogs, lots of them that mother nature provides, or are you talking about something totally different? I'm talking about the bagged peat moss, usually a giant bag that feels "too light." If I had a bog, it might be good stuff, I don't know. I don't like it because I think it causes soils to become more hydrophobic than they already were. And it always seems to "float" to the surface of potted plants. And if you keep it too moist, it grows molds.

I don't like the crystals for one very simple reason. They impede the rapid drainage from a coarse textured potting mix. I want those pore spaces to be filled with fresh air once the water is evacuated...not gunked up with gel.

My preferred potting mix is mostly bark, with added peat moss and perlite. I shudder to think what those crystals would do to such a coarse textured medium! I use something somewhat finer textured for seeding purposes but I always aim for something that will drain any excess water immediately.