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Winter Sowing in Hyponex Potting Soil????

13 years ago

I recently sowed some Zinnia seeds in two different containers, one was the "Envy" Zinnia seeds, which were left over from last year and the other variety was the 'Zahara Starlight Rose' seeds, which I had purchased this year. I have sowed Zinnia seeds in the past and they always germinated, only I'm not sure if I ever used Hyponex soil before, so now, after reading some of the posts about how bad the soil is, I'm really concerned that my Zinnia's won't germinate. Has anyone had any luck using this soil or was it a disaster for everyone?

Linda

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Comments (6)

daisyb
13 years ago
Regardless of how cheap Hyponex Potting Soil is, I never buy it! I learned the hard way trying to save. I potted up 30 or 40 pots with Angel Trumpets I had rooted. The soil set up like concrete! I have tried mixing it with peat moss but even that leaves you with a poor mix.
lisa33
13 years ago
Same experience here. It's the worst in all of my containers. After realizing it, I did what daisy did and mixed with some peat moss. Marginally better. I won't waste my money, seeds or containers on it next year.
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Walmart won't sell busted bags for less money, at least around here. I saw a bunch of big bags broken open this spring and asked about them, and was told they send them back to be rebagged and then resold. :o( Since I really only use up 2 big bags with all my wintersowing, I just bite the bullet and get them whenever I can. I guess my time is worth something too.
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Whatever it takes to have fluffy "soil," that's the key. I bought a bag of Hyponex my first year wintersowing, and adding perlite didn't seem to help. I think I should have let the soil dry out and added peat moss instead. I still got sprouts in that brick of soil, but they stayed tiny until I eventually planted out. I saved my containers from my first year (quite a lot of people don't save containers) so I used that extra time for mixing up my own wintersowing mix. It's the cheapest way I can have lots of nice fluffy mix, since I buy perlite and peat in bulk. I also add garden soil, compost, and aged horse manure. My seedlings sit in the container for months, sometimes, so I want there to be 4-5 inches of mix, and some nutrients in there. For any newbie deciding on what to do for their wintersowing "soil" mix, our seed-starting mix doesn't need to be sterile, although many times the product we buy is. Fluffy is the key word!
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I would also recommend that if you live somewhere with wet winters and spring don't get the potting mixes with the large water holding polymer gel things in them. They just soak up all the rain and float to the top. Also, the potting mixes that are specially formulated for growing in containers that have extra bark chips in them to stay fluffy and not compact don't work so well for wintersowing. The containers stay well drained and the seedlings grow fine. The problem is at planting time. Instead of sliding out of the jug as a nice solid chunk that can be torn into hunks o seeds ...you get a loose pile of potting mix and seedlings that falls apart the second it leaves the container. The mix just doesn't hold together by the roots very well.
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Comments (17)
missy, I don't think I'd go to the expense or the trouble of something like the 'gritty mix' highlighted at the container forum for winter sowing. Just get a good quality potting medium/mix, you aren't going to be growing long term in it. You do want a light mix that will provide good aeration without compacting while still retaining some moisture. If I'm not familiar with the brands and am at a box store, hopefully there is a broken bag and I can do a handful, squeeze test. Peat or ground bark based are fine....I'd only ditto the 'avoid Hyponex'. I can't get ProMix here, but a local garden supply mixes up the 'Cornell recipe' and bags it for us. I use it a lot. Gardner and Bloome is another local potting medium that's nice. I think the Miracle Grow is available everywhere and while I don't care for it for evergreens/long term container planting, it's been fine when I've winter sown with it too.
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LindaMA
Original Author
13 years ago
Should I just throw the jugs away then and count on not getting any germination? I will never purchase this soil again either, what a waste.

Linda
joycenj_2009
13 years ago
My first 60 containers were with Hyponex! Then I read where it isn't a good soil. However, I have sprouts in most of those containers. I am using the rest of the bags along with ProMix. If you have more seeds, try them in a different potting mix, but wait a bit to see if the first ones do indeed sprout. This is my first year and I am addicted and the folks on this forum are enablers!
Joyce
radqueen36
13 years ago
I didn't realize when I started winter sowing this year, that Hyponex wasn't the best soil to use. However, all of my seeds were started in it. I have a fairly good germination rate, at least I think so. This is my first year of WS.
LindaMA
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you all, I will wait and see how they do. If it would only stop raining long enough for me to check them out, they may have floated away!

Anyway, it's not my first year WS but it is my first year using Hyponex, a lesson learned that's for sure.

Linda

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