Seed Starting Mix

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i think that when you get the plants from the stores it is not that they are old, but they tend to be root bound from the forced growth & the transplant shock sets them back till they get their roots to settle in again.

if i stick to the plants sold at my favorite greenhouse they don't do as bad as some of the ones that have come from the big box stores. the greenhouse takes the time when the plants are ready for potting up just before they get root bound in the packs, they will move them up to a larger pot to sell at a premium price i've noticed. the big box stores could care less since they are looking for a quick sell & then get out of selling plants by the time June/early July hit when plants look like they are suffering.

i picked up my starter mix yesterday. last year i bought Lambert's compressed 3.8 cu ft cube and i still had some left for this year. but figuring that i wouldn't have enough for all i want to do i picked up some more. i liked how nicely the plants grew in it last year. it cost me about $30 for the cube. this is much cheaper than me getting the smaller bags as i needed them. i wouldn't consider this being cheap but it is still a fair better price than using the Jiffy mix that i have had poor luck with in the past. Miracle Grow worked nicely for me in the past so i have nothing bad to say about it other than i just couldn't get enough to get my stuff started, without multiple trips to the store because it seemed like i was always running out of soil.

 

[so lucky]

What's wrong with Miracle Grow? Now I'm curious....

I was just trying to be more organic with fertilizers, and the fertilizer in the miracle grow potting mix isn't organic.

 

[catjac1975]

I was just trying to be more organic with fertilizers, and the fertilizer in the miracle grow potting mix isn't organic.

There is organic miracle grow potting mix.I use Pro Mix

 

[digitS']

I hope I'm not leading gardeners astray by being so stick-in-the-mud about the soil mix I use. Realize that it is out of habit and one, unnerving experience.

... I use coir to start my daylily seeds ...

Coir has been around long enough for me to have been imagining that it may not just be the environmental concerns prompting it's use. Good to know!

There is a risk that plants from commercial outfits, and especially flowering plants, have been sprayed with something like B-9. This is a link to the manufacturer, there are plenty of organic people complaining about this and related growth regulators/hormones. I've wished that I could turn off the stretching of plants with insufficient light or being too long in the containers. B-nine would do it but I'd rather not use it.

Steve

 

[Circle-M-Farm]

Another link to growth regulators and growth retardants.
http://www.greenhousegrower.com/uncategorized/plant-growth-regulator-primer/

 

[Circle-M-Farm]

As for Nyboy's question, I've used Pro-Mix in the past (In school and in my greenhouse) but like my own mix best.
4 parts Peat (sifted to a medium grade)
2 parts Builders Sand
1 part Horticultural Grade Vermiculite

 

[baymule]

I have used garden soil before with good results. I have also used store bought with about the same results. This year, I have a 5 gallon bucket of sheep poo that I am going to mix with my sand. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

is sheep poop similar to rabbit & goat poop in that it is pellets?

 

[Beekissed]

Yep, it is. A nice cool fertilizer and can be applied directly on the garden. I love what sheep do for pasture/lawn...their droppings don't burn the grass, the chickens can scatter them easily thus dispersing them further than the drop zone and getting a good, even covering of the pasture over time.

They also tend to graze everything, while letting the things they don't particularly want to ingest fall out the corners of their mouth, so they sort of act like lawn mowers in that they leave clippings behind to nourish the soil. They also are light weight, so their hooves don't pug the grass crowns like cows and horses would do.