Oops! Planting mix instead of seeding mix.

Got home with a coarse, woody planting mix instead of fine grained seeding mix.. Question is, will seeds germinate in it OK?

Frank

If I were you I'd use the seedling mix that has proven to work. Why chance it?

The seed mix is sterile. The planting mix probably isn't. Your seeds will germinate just fine, but nasties lurking in the soil may cause you much grief.

Been there, done that.

OK. It's er, umm, uhh, well . . . a 50 pound bag & I just didn't read the label. SIgh. Guess I'll just use it as mulch.

Thanks,

Frank

That it's a 50 pound bag is another hint. I've never seen seed starting mix in larger than 10 quarts.

OK, like what kind of grief? I did start seeds in potting mix. They've sprouted just fine and are growing. What 'nasties' should I be on the lookout for? BTW, most of what I have growing in those cups are tomatoes and peppers. If that makes a difference.

non sterile mix is more likely to harbor fungus and is more likely to have things like damp-off and fungus gnats. That's not always the case, but whenever a non-sterile mix is used, it ups the odds.

Water with a solution of hydrogen peroxide...1 tablespoon to a gallon of water to help combat fungus. Water from bottom only and never let the surface soil stay wet. when it changes from a lighter color to a darker one, they've had enough.

(peppers and tomatoes have died horrible deaths at my house in years past, and the Great Fungus Gnat Invasion of 1998 is still fresh in my memory)

The seed starting mixes are safer though I have not had any trouble with some MG potting mix.

This message was edited Feb 13, 2008 10:04 PM

Groannnnnn... Now I'm worried. To be sure I understand, I need to set the cups in the treated water to let it wick up? I shouldn't water from above? Oh, I hope I haven't set these little seedlings up for suicide.

It's always better to bottom water, regardless of whatever mix you use. Pour water in the tray, and after 20 minutes pour off whatever remains.

top watering works sometimes, but there's less chance of the fungal stuff attacking the delicate stems where they meet the soil. Damp-off usually gets seedlings right at the soil line.

I have never been able to afford as much seed mix as I need for all my daylily seedlings, not to mention everything else. I use MG mix or Jungle Grow mix ( from lowes) They have never been a problem. I only start seeds in bio-sponges. I get amazing results, even from the microscopic seeds. I always had bad luck till I discoved them.

The Key, in my opion is just what is written above...water from the bottom. It just makes all the differance.

Just bake your soil at 300 for an hour. It's not rocket surgery:-)

This message was edited Feb 14, 2008 11:22 PM

I'm not raising many tiny seeds, but I water from the top...no trouble. Of course I take mine outdoors during the day when possible and they get a good airing out that way....plus I like to give plants plenty of room in the flats.....not like those crowded things at the garden centers.

For tips on sterilizing potting mix and other ways to prevent damping off, see http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/277/

I don't like the coarse mixes for shallow seed starting trays and little cell packs... it just seems to me like a seedling has to struggle too much to sprout up from underneath some big wood chip. On the other hand, I don't buy the $$ little bags of "seed starting mix" either. I use good potting mix, maybe with a little extra perlite, and I sterilize it myself.

But I got some coarse MG mix one year, and it worked really well in my larger containers. So you didn't just buy 50 pounds of mulch. :-)

I've used MG potting soil for the last several years, I haven't had any problems with it. I fact I just planted my first starts last noc. I only keep the seeds under the "hood" till the first ones come out, then remove the little dome. They then go off the heating mat and onto the light stand. I'll move them to the basement light stands after the secodn set of true leaves, and out to the green house as soon as it warms enough. I always plant more on the tomatoes, because I like to try and cheet and set some out earlier than I'm suppose to. Some times it works, some times it doesn't. Last year it definitly didn't work with the easter frost.

I should have clarified... I used MG potting mix (soil-less mix, not their garden soil) for several years... but then one year the mix in the bags was a lot coarser. It seemed to have a good portion of bark fines in addition to the usual peat moss etc... not a bad thing for containers, but not what I wanted for seedling flats.

Ya it is kind of coarse, I just pick out the big pieces and thow them in the compost heap. I thought about making a sieve for take out some of the bigger pieces before I plant, just haven't got to it yet.

PS. Critter, how are your aleppos doing?

(I'll be planting peppers in early March... I'll let you know!)

Since I want to baby these few precious seeds, I'm going to do them seperately from my other stuff. I have no Idea how long they will take to germinate, if they do. Will use the little peat pellets for them. Got about a dozen seeds out of the crushed peper.

I'll be doing Aleppos too... we'll have to start a thread in the spring.

A lot of the wood/bark/peat potting mixes will be okay for starting seedlings *IF* they're well composted, but if they aren't, turpenoids in the wood and bark can inhibit germination. I always had good results with one mix until last year when I noticed a lot of chunks and twigs that weren't broken down. Germination was terrible and the seedlings were stunted, but when I tried another mix that was mostly peat and vermiculite (seed starter) I was back in business. Coir (coconut husk fiber) is a proving to be a good wood/bark/peat substitute in seed starters, but it's probably a few years from hitting the average retail chains.

I've been hearing some really mixed results from coir, and it doesn't seem to be due only to salt content... I can't put my fingers on the link somebody posted recently, but there were some not so good looking comparisons between seedlings grown in coir vs peat mixes... and it wasn't a study sponsored by Miracle Gro, LOL. I may have to get some to play with. :-)

Thanks for the info. I haven't really researched coir yet, so I wouldn't mind seeing the link.

So far the cauliflower, broccoli, and kolrobi are up, the onions and cabbage aren't yet. That was only 3-4 days for the germination of the others in the MG mix. It did have alot of wood chips in it, didn't seen to bother them much. I picked out the bigger chunks when I fille the cells.