6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Most of your commercial seed starting mediums contain slight traces of fertilizers especially ment to get seeds/seedlings off to a good start. To have a truly "organic" blend, you'll have to make it yourself. Here's a basic peat starting mix for you: 2 parts coconut coir or peat moss; 1 part vermiculite; 1 part perlite, 1 part dehydrated steer manure; and 1/5 part dolomite lime. The lime is used to raise the pH of the naturally acidic peat, also provides calcium and magnesium, Espoma brand of pelleted is excellant! To prepare the blend, start with the peat and dampen thoroughly. Add next ingredient, mix, dampen and blend again, continue til you have it all together in the amount you need. It is highly advisable to wear a mask when making the medium to avoid inhalation of dust(s) associated with perlite and lime (if a powdered form is used). Making your own will not be cheap: think you'll find costs of everything, overall, will be very close to purchasing something already made up.
If you want to try a commercial blend that contains micorise (helps in root formation), a 16 quart bag of Pro Mix Ultimate Seeding Mix can be gotten thru www.greenhousemegastore.com for $12.95 plus $5 s/h. This is the BEST I've used yet, and you can't find it everywhere! Item number is: SO-PM-USM so you can find it faster if you want to look at its contents.
Hope I've helped a bit...GOOD GROWING!
Plain old Jiffy Mix has nothing but peat and vermiculite in it. Check out the previous discussion linked below - many tips in it. Plain old peat plus vermiculite or perlite is about as "organic" as you can get. ;)
But I'm surprised you couldn't find one online - Gardeners Supply, Gardens Alive, Parks, Gurney's, etc. all carry various types. metro Mix is organic as all it has added is a wetting agent.
Dave
Or just use homemade compost - many discussions here at GW about it (see link at top of the forum page called Peat vs. compost.
Here is a link that might be useful: Best seed starting mixes
We have a little one foot tall avacado tree in a pot started the same way you started your's, from what I remember we left it in the water until it had some leaves and roots, the seed split but still clung on a for quite a while, but when we put it in the soil it was without the seed. So I think it's ok if the seed splits, just as long as you make sure the whole plant doesn't fall in the cup, and by the time the seed falls off completely hopefully it will be big enough to go into a pot. I'm no avacado tree growing expert but thats what we did.
Hope that helped?
Good luck to you : )
I have had 'Munstead' reseed gently a couple times in my garden. It certainly wasn't anything that would take over my garden and I was glad of the extra plants which I dug up and moved around or potted up for my spring plant sale.
The seedlings could have easily been disturbed by cultivation and killed if I had not wanted them.
I had a glut of wallflowers germinate when light was excluded. I had them in my garage with the door closed when I lived in the UK. I have now returned home and tried to germinate wallflowers in my coldframe with zero per cent success. However I have had a very favorable result in germinating tomatoes, onions and peppers in my heated propagators on the ledge in my drawing room.
While the wallflowers I sowed did not succeed I did find a self sown wallflower in the gravel of my path which I transplanted to the bed. Just shows nature really does know best.
ya, i let my kiddo's do their gardening, they have started thiers in them 72 cell packs i got at dollar general for 350, and they watch them. and water them. its important, i tell them its their job to take care of them!! they do a good job! and i remind them to be careful of the "babie plants". LOL they love it! and tabor helps teach talla how to take care of them. he's 12 and she's 5. :')) don't give up!!!
Hi misty - have you reviewed all the FAQ's here? Linked at the top of the front page. They cover most of the basic info needed.
As to when to transplant? It depends on how crowded it is in your starting containers. If crowded, transplant some now with lots of care. Handle the leaves only not the stems. Are the stems on anything real long and leggy? If so they need to be transplanted deeply to just below the bottom leaves now.
The rest can wait until they develop their first true leaves. Then transplant them to new containers and either use a mix with fertilizer already in it or start feeding them a mild 1/4 strength solution of any good liquid balanced fertilizer.
Enjoy your plants.;)
dave
so far i have 3 growing from seed and another 6 on the way, LOL when sams had their sale on them we bought them up and ate them, cuz we LOVE them so much and i had to try it!! i read vegangirls post on it, so i buried mine halfway and "the bean only> in a week on one of them it just popped out!!
I have planted for a few years and they always start out very slow. Mine are pretty small right now and usually pick up speed the next few weeks. They grow best when it's warm outside so don't try to move out too early. I have plenty of rabbit problems and they have never bother the Lisianthus. I also have some earwigs (not many) but have never had a problem with the Lisianthus. Good luck and don't give up yet.
Yes, Walmart has been successful, even though their practices have been questioned constantly. They found a way to do business very profitably and still give consumers the prices we want. In this economy, other companies will need to adapt. If not, they'll be closing their doors, not Walmart.
If there is something you like and it is a good price, it doesn't matter where it is, you will buy it if you have the funds.
And people will be going to the stores near them where prices are much cheaper to offset the rising cost of gas.
I see a lot of people vacationing in their backyard this year!
kcbarbara: anytime! Garden Watchdog is on the Dave's Garden website.. you can google it and they have all these reviews that might help for next time.
You know, this whole Walmart thing really shows how much people are shaped by their geography. I notice that people in the east are more laissez-faire about it, whereas people on the west coast are far more resistant.
I live on the west coast of Canada, and the two main cities here have both banned Walmart from setting up in the city. If you want to go to Walmart here, you have to drive to one of the smaller communities outside of city limits. Walmart has been negotiating with the City of Vancouver to build a "green" Walmart, with recycled everything and solar panels and a rooftop garden and recycled rainwater- something that would cause most Americans to be stunned, given the traditional image of the stores. They do what they have to- so far the city council has been shooting them down regardless, but who knows what might take shape? Anyway, its interesting..
Hi Glacier - most likely not as that type of storage isn't noted for long term preservation.
However you can do a germination test on it to know for sure. Scatter 10 seeds on a well-damp coffee filter, fold it over and place it in a sealed ziplock bag and place it near a sunny window. Check after 3 days and daily thereafter for any germination. If none germinate within 20 days you might as well pitch it. But if some do, the number that germinate will give you a good indication of the % of germination you can expect from the rest.
Good luck.
Dave
Not familiar with your source of seed BUT there are two small greenhouses (1 produces bedding plants the other a truck garden) they purchase seed in bulk (1 pound at a time) then sell to the public in 1/4 oz to 1 oz for most seed corn by the pound. The price is always cheeper than packaged seed & is usually as fresh or fresher.... One of these seed companies is called "tri-star".
Thanks
They do look like a nice set-up. Too bad they are so expensive and only do 24 plants. Sounds like you good a really good deal on so many of them. ;)
Dave