Your choice of starting mix
 

I'm going to start my garden plants from seed this year and have never done this before.I plan on starting them in two weeks,what is your favorite starting soil mix?

Fox Farms Light Warrior

Black Gold seedling mix.

I am trying Diatomaceous Earth as a seed starting medium this year, was on another site and got a link to Tomatoville where you folks have an extensive thread on the topic.
[URL]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=22329[/URL] It is real easy to work with and cheap to boot.

Heather

I'm looking for something that I could buy locally and avoid high shipping cost but again with no experience growing from seed I wanted a complete soil that need nothing but water with 6 weeks of growth before planting.I don't know if there is such a soil available.

I get the Black Gold from my local garden center. Not sure what you mean by "complete" but seed starting mix won't have any fertilizer in it. When I bump my seedlings up to the bigger pot, I use a regular potting mix and begin to feed them. That's about the time they get two sets of true leaves.

[QUOTE=shelleybean;459752]I get the Black Gold from my local garden center. Not sure what you mean by "complete" but seed starting mix won't have any fertilizer in it. When I bump my seedlings up to the bigger pot, I use a regular potting mix and begin to feed them. That's about the time they get two sets of true leaves.[/QUOTE]
That's why I came here to you people,I was thinking of starting them in large plastic 12oz cups and put holes in the bottom.One plant per cup so I did not have to transplant.Did not know starting mixes did not contain fertilizer.

Hmm, maybe someone who has tried that will chime in and tell you how it worked for them.

I start mine in 1.5 inch pots and then move them to 4 inch pots later. I want them deeper than I had them in the small pots because tomatoes root along the stem and the point of doing this is to build a stronger root system. If your seedlings look a bit leggy, repotting deep can help with that, as well.

I'm new to this and am grateful for your advice.When I plant I always bury 2/3rds of the plant for thicker stem tomato plants.

That's good. I plant deeply out in the garden, too. Just make sure your foliage isn't touching the ground.

A lot of people keep notes from season to season. You might want to write down the methods you're using this year, what when well, what you'd change. It will help you next year. After you get comfortable with what you want to do, then it's safe to invest in whatever materials you like, like my plastic pots for instance, and just use them over and over again, year after year. With gardening, there is the initial expense of your grow lights, tomato cages, whatever, but these things will usually last you a very long time. Enjoy!

I usually coco coir but this year i tried Root Zone peat plugs and man these things work amazing. They cost way to much As in 24.99 for 100 but so far these out preform any jiffy pellets, coco coir, or seed starting mix i have tried.

I have had good luck with Miracle-Gro or like products. Using starter mix has not been so good for me. I begin with 1 1/2 inch six pack pots and pot up to individual 2 or 3 inch containers. No problems with germination or die-off.

[QUOTE=PaulF;459788]I have had good luck with Miracle-Gro or like products. Using starter mix has not been so good for me. I begin with 1 1/2 inch six pack pots and pot up to individual 2 or 3 inch containers. No problems with germination or die-off.[/QUOTE]

Ditto. Except I transplant to 4" nursery pots. These hold about 20 oz
Karen O

I used Pro-Mix HP. So far, so good. I plan to use it in my transplant pots.

Dan

I used to use ProMix BX but this year just picked up the cheap ($4.97) Organic Jiffy Mix at the local big box store. Started a few dwarfish tomato varieties in early Feb. and they've been potted up twice so far and now have flowers on them. Haven't fed them yet but they're sturdy and dark green.

kath