WHat is the best seed starter mix

[kurt]

After years of picking logs out of pro mix and suffering the hornworms that came with the Canadian Premier Horticultural sends us I moved to Coco Bliss Premium Coconut coir pith.I mix it with rice hulls bought buy the 50 pound bag.No more stem rot.

[b54red]

I use small grain DE for starting all my small seeds like tomatoes, peppers and smaller seeds because I have had good luck with cutting down on damping off when I use it. It does need bottom watering until the seedlings get some size to them and some good root development. As soon as they sprout good they need a bit of fertilizer. I just use a half teaspoon or less of MG every week or two in a gallon of water until they are growing large enough to transplant to larger cups with regular potting soil. I sometimes leave plants like spinach and lettuce in the DE until plant out but you must have it very wet when setting it out so the roots don't get disturbed too much.

Bill

[Fusion_power]

That's a pretty good dose. How often do you apply?

I use cell trays that hold 48 plants per tray and put 1/2 teaspoon in the bottom of the tray along with water to dissolve it. This is usually done 2 times before seedlings are sold. There are some seed start mixes that absorb large amounts of nitrogen. Coir is one such. You may have to use more fertilizer with them.

If you start seed in plain peat moss or in coir, you will have to fertilize them just after planting the seed with a complete fertilizer with micronutrients. This is true for every seed start mix that is not pre-fertilized.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Originally Posted by b54red

I use small grain DE for starting all my small seeds like tomatoes, peppers and smaller seeds because I have had good luck with cutting down on damping off when I use it. It does need bottom watering until the seedlings get some size to them and some good root development. As soon as they sprout good they need a bit of fertilizer. I just use a half teaspoon or less of MG every week or two in a gallon of water until they are growing large enough to transplant to larger cups with regular potting soil. I sometimes leave plants like spinach and lettuce in the DE until plant out but you must have it very wet when setting it out so the roots don't get disturbed too much.

Bill

Bill, I tried some DE this year, but it just turned into a gloppy muddy mess. What did I do wrong?

[kurt]

I bottom water ,not top water,in the trays,with the favorite mix of bat guano,my well water.This is for the mix for seed start.A splash of a fert at starting.

[kurt]

Second try.

[Labradors2]

Kurt, just wanted to mention that Hornworms do not come in on the potting mix. The way it works is the adult moth lays eggs on tomato leaves and they hatch into Hornworm caterpillars that feast on the plants.

The only way that Hornworms could be in that Canadian potting mix is if the pupa were in the peat moss or compost from which it was made. Even then, I suspect that it would have to be sterilized (to be allowed into the US) which would kill any insects AND they are as big as your index finger, so pretty hard to miss!

Linda

[paradajky]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Bill, I tried some DE this year, but it just turned into a gloppy muddy mess. What did I do wrong?

Would you be able to share the kind of DE, and brand? That will likely be the issue.

[FarmerShawn]

If you're where you can get it, Vermont Compost's Fort Vee cannot be beat.

[MissS]

I use the granular DE mixed with worm castings. I no longer have damping off issues and the plants are sturdy and strong.

ScottinAtlanta, be sure that you are using granular DE and not the powdered DE that you would use as an insecticide. If it's very dusty then you might want to rinse it off. I like the granular because of the air that it allows to the roots.

[Lee]

Metromix 360 is the best I've found. Great germination rates with this,

plus the consistency makes it easy to separate the seedlings upon initial transplant.


Lee

[kurt]

I grow all my container maters in a screened in pool enclosure.Have never seen a moth inside.The worms started out black,really small grew to finger size green and brown monsters.Ever since I switched no more.But did get some in store bought plants which were eliminated at first site.As for the sterilization thier site on a U tube video,,and countless searches show the product as “sterile”not sterilized in a process.

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I use Fox Farms Light Warrior and then when I pot up, use Fox Farms Happy Frog. I grow in my basement, in very cool conditions, under lights, water from the bottom only when dry and use Urban Farms Vegie formula until flower set when I switch to their Tomato formula.

The one year I decided to try something else, my starts were terrible.

[Labradors2]

Kurt, interesting about the green and brown caterpillars that started off black. I have no clue what they could have been. Googling keeps bringing up the weird-looking Saddleback, and I don't think it could have been that on your tomatoes! {LOL}

Strange about the sterilization situation with that potting mix! I'd have thought the rules would have been stricter than that......

Linda

[paradajky]

A couple years ago I dove deep into container mix research and the general recommendation was to limit earthworm castings to <10% of the mix. I don't recall the reasoning. Here I'm reading some of you use considerably more to start seeds, and successfully at that.



The internet is truly a wonderful source of confusing information hahaha Nothing else to see here, just be amused with my bewilderment and move on :p