Seed starting mix?
Comments (16)
mblan13
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What is too wet for seed starting mix
Comments (13)For those seeds expected to germinate in a week or two I use a mix of half peat and half vermiculite. I keep this mixed and moistened at all times, not moist enough to be able to squeeze any water out. I start most of my seeds in four inch (used)nursery containers. I fill the pot with mix and press it down firmly. it will then be about 5/8 inch down from the top. I TRY and spread the seeds evenly up to about 25 for most seeds. Now the pot is set into about 3 inches of slightly warm water in the sink. When the top of the soil glistens with moisture wicked up, I take it out of the sink and cover the pot with clear cling plastic wrap, securing it with a rubber band. I put the pot on a 70 degree mat and will not have to water again until germination is apparent and the plastic is removed. There will be variations of this routine dictated by the seed variety being planted, some requiring light and some requiring dark. If a seed requires stratifying or scarifying it is a waste of time and money not to provide it. Al...See MoreMixing my own tomato seed starting mix.
Comments (13)DWD2, thank you for posting your methodology. It always good to see how others grow their seeds and compare methods. I have grown my own starts (36+ tomato varieties) for the past 5 years. Before last year, I had not had too many plant health problems, except for the first year when my light system was not close enough to my plants. In that year I had problems with leggyness. I strongly suspect that my problem last year was the seed starter mix, but it could have been a few other things. I may have introduced disease into the first batch by incorporating compost into the mix. I think this is unlikely because in other batches and other treys I did not use compost in the mix but still had the same problems. Also, once the plants were in the ground they recovered and grew well the rest of the summer. If it were a disease I would have expected that the plants would still have had problems after planting, which they did not. Tomatoes are really amazing in what they can take early on and still produce well. For example, I had a mouse eat all the leaves of two plants shortley after they were in the ground. There were only stems left and I thought they were done, but I did not pull them out. Both plants sprouted new leaves again and became bushy healthy plants. I was astounded. I have had others suggest that with an approximately 50/50 mix of vermiculite and peat, I may have had water retention problems that suffocated the roots. Thats possible, but I was pretty careful about my watering. I can't totally rule that out. It may also have been too many nutrients from a dilute solution of fertilizer at watering as the problems occured shortly after that. I have read that new seedlings don't need many nutrients becuase they get what they need from the seeds/cotyledons. Some have even suggested that you will cause more problems by fertilizing than just not fertilizing. The reason why I fertilized is because we had a number of storms in May that pushed my planting date back 3-4 weeks longer than our average frost date. So I fertilized a little. I may also have had root binding problems. There is another possiblity which DWD2 suggested. I used a seed heating matt for the first time last year and most of the tomatoes had it under them for at least a day. So I may have over-heated the soil a little and damaged the roots. However on the last seed trey that got started late, I did not use the heat matt because I suspected it may have caused the problems. Yet I still had the same problems in the last trey. My strongest suspicion is still the starter mix. I have read the ingredient list on several seed starting mixes. In most cases, they usually contain peat (as the main medium plus it has high cation exchange capacity) + vermiculite (for micro nutrient exchange and water retention) + lime (to balance the PH of the peat). They sometimes include perilite, but sometimes not (example Jiffy), they also sometimes include a few other things (mycorrhizae for example or a source of nutrients). The main ingredient that I was missing that most starter mixes have is lime for ph balance. I could not find lime in any stores in Utah at the time. They do sell it here, but it is not a common soil amendment in Utah because most Utah soils are slightly alkaline (PH 7.8-8.2). So most folks would not want to add lime. This year I am interested to try mixing my own starter again but I wanted actual recipies to get an idea of the right proportions to use. Also I had no idea that mycorrhizae was available so I am defintley going to use that in my mix. Alternatively I could just buy a pre-made starter mix, but I wanted to save money and its a learning experience as well....See MoreTesting seed starting mix?
Comments (2)Any broad leaf vegetable - like beans, cukes, even radish. Beans is the most common recommendation. Dave...See Morecan you use seed starting mix for bulbs?
Comments (1)Hi, so you have bags of bulbs in your fridge and want to pot them up for blooming and you only have seed starting mix? If I understand correctly, I don't know how it would be harmful to use the seed starting mix. I'm not an expert on the differences between the different mixes but I agree leaving bulbs in the fridge for 5 months is a bit long although probably ok. Important things are not to over water (check soil with a finger before watering) and give as much sun as possible....See More
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
8 years ago
Nil13 usda:10a sunset:21 LA,CA (Mount Wash.)
8 years ago
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
8 years agoUser
8 years agozzackey
8 years ago
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
8 years ago
dale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI use PRO Mix HP with a little perlite added at 3:1 ratio to
make a 50/50(Peat/Perlite) mix. Seeds are surface sown with a covering of grit (Perlite,Pumice,Sand,
or Granite Grit)at about 1.5 times seed
thickness. This keeps seed in humid environment and stems drier after
germination. Eliminate grit for seeds
that require light for germination such as Sage Brush, Lettuce, etc. Subirrigate by capillary action or lightly mist from above as needed(usually at the 90% of container water capacity weight point or 10% weight loss). Pretreat
seeds as needed to break dormancy (Scarification, Cold Treatment, Smoke Water, etc).Mulch Texture.
One of the primary functions of a seed covering is to maintain a
"moist, but not wet" environment around the germinating seed. To
the novice grower, it might seem logical to choose a material that holds
water but this is not the case. A good seed mulch functions by creating a
break in texture at the top of the growing medium (figure 8.19).
Because the growing medium is finer textured, water will not move into the
coarser seed covering and so the surface of the medium remains moist,
creating ideal conditions for seed germination. from "The Container Tree Nursery Manual Vol 6 Chapter 2"Hot Water Method: Good for Seeds with hard seed coats such
as Lupines, Acacia, Black Locust etc. Plant the Swollen seeds, and retreat
unswollen seeds.Capillary Bed ,Pregermination, and Hot Water Seed Treatment Examples
Sidenote: Received some
acorns this Jan, from CA Coastal Live Oak and CA Interior Live Oak. Placed acorns in container of water to select viable ones (sinkers). Removed Viable Acorns,Placed Acorns in a Baggie with Slighly Moist
Peatmoss. Check weekly for Germination ( root starting to emerge). Placed
Germinates on surface of soil mix 50/50 Peat/Perlte in tree tubes, and mulched
with Perlite to just cover acorn. Seedlings are about 4in now doing great. Fertigate
with 30ppm N with 18-18-22 for now, started fertigation about 3 weeks after sprouting. Large size of acorn supplies nutrients for a while to seedling.tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
8 years agodale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agotropic, I had some Arroyo Lupine seeds, just rubbed seeds between 2 sheets of sandpaper. Then soaked them, planted the swelled seeds. Repeated on unswelled seeds. Many seeds have protection for scattered germination periods over many seasons. I just have many seeds with unknown dormancy. Manzanita is the toughest. Was going to try my daughter's rock tumbler with some sand for scarification of large lots of seeds. As far as vegetables Lettuce seems very picky about temp range and sowing depth. Not sure which Vegetable Seeds are more heat sensitive. The water is usually cooled to 200 to 180 F before using. It would surface sterilize the seed also, to prevent diseases.
Addtion:
I would use a Hydrogen Peroxide Solution of 1 part household 3%H2O2 to 20 Parts Water instead of Bleach Solution. Soak 15 min to 1 Hour depending on seed surface texture.
It seems that Cucurbits are temp Sensitive. May have to use physical scarification on the squashes(Sandpaper of small File).
dale92539 Riverside Co SoCal
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoSome Extra Seed Treatment Info on Cold
Stratification without medium ,that might be useful for Seed Propagators. Works good for smaller seeds like Giant Sequoia. This is from the “Raising Forest Tree Seedlings at Home” Manual .
Techniques can be used for other seeds also.2.2.1 Naked Stratification
This method is best for larger quantities of seeds (more
than a handful or two).Start by putting seeds into a bridal mesh or cheesecloth
bag. A square piece of mesh, with seeds placed in the center,can be tied to form
a crude bag (Figure 2.13). Don’t put more than a half pound of seeds per bag.
Label it. Place the bag into a bucket and allow water to run through it for
48 hours. This allows seeds to absorb sufficient water to start metabolic
processes necessary for germination, and running water removes fungal spores. After
soaking,allow the bag to drip dry for a minute or so and suspend it
within a plastic bag( Figure 2.14). Hang the bag in your refrigerator for the
required time. Check it often for mold. If mold is
present, gently rinse the seeds in running water and rehang in the refrigerator.
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
8 years agonakenge12
8 years agohello everyone. I've found this twice in my seedling soil. What is this? Good or bad? Please help
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
8 years agonakenge12
8 years ago
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a