Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

New to growing your own tomatoes? This is the forum to learn the successful techniques used by seasoned tomato growers. Questions are welcome, too.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 12, 2012   #1
luke
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 177
Default soil for seedling starts question

Will move my seedlings to their solo cups in a few days. I've just about used all of my Jiffy seed starting soil, and wondering if it would be best to buy some more, use a bag of worm castings or some other planting medium. Any suggestions?
luke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 12, 2012   #2
SEAMSFASTER
Tomatovillian™
 
SEAMSFASTER's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: American Fork, Utah
Posts: 160
Default

For transplanting up to bigger pots, I had very good success last year with Sunshine Organic Blend (went through 26 bales total, if I recall), some Sustane 4-6-4 slow release organic fertilizer and a little bone meal. Worm castings would be an excellent addition to this mix.

I used 16-oz. plastic Solo cups for years because they were so cheap. I even washed and reused them. But now that I've started a little business (1 year anniversary last week!), I won't use those cups again. They just fall over too easily, especially when I'm trying to load up a small box for customers.

I've given in and gone with the high quality 3-1/2 in., 18 pots per 10-20 tray. I give customers a 10¢ return/credit on these pots. I just washed and reused dozens of them today which were returned last year. I'm guessing these could last for several years if cared for properly.
SEAMSFASTER is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 13, 2012   #3
dice
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
Default

I am using 5 parts coir, 2 parts earthworm castings, 1 part perlite for
potting up sprouted seedlings into 3" pots. 3 parts potting mix that has
some perlite in it for drainage and air space and 1 part earthworm
castings also works. No other fertilizer needed until after they are
transplanted into the garden or larger containers.

I used this brand of coir, pH was right in there at 6.5-6.7 (did not need
to be adjusted): http://www.groworganic.com/beats-pea...-ft-brick.html
It takes a while to soak up water and expand. Worked better when I cut up
the compressed coir bricks with a jigsaw first.

If you prefer to use pre-mixed container mix, these are all good products
to look for (shipping from here would probably double the price):
http://homeharvest.com/pottingmixes.htm
Some of them already have a starter nutrient charge and so do not need
the earthworm castings.

Some growers consider Happy Frog the best of these, although I have not
used it: http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils2.html
Another one from the same company:
http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils1.html

Some vendors also make up their own custom mix, like this one from
Peaceful Valley: http://www.groworganic.com/pvfs-orga...cu-ft-bag.html

I have also used ad hoc mixes like sand from the edge of a creek or
river, sand-blasting grit, half-decayed birch leaves with fish emulsion,
and so on, but those experiments are always hit-and-miss, while the
potting mixes above and the coir-perlite-castings mix are more
predictable and reliable.
__________________
--
alias
dice is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:42 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★