seeds Soaking seed starting mix

Heya all,

My usual method of germinating seeds is simply in potting soil, and I've always had success. Recently I wanted to take a more professional approach, if you will? And try to use seed starting mix.

I simply filled up the little seed starting tray with the starter mix, wet it, made a divet for the seed, sprinkled dry starting mix over the top and placed the humidity dome on top of the tray.

Are you supposed to do a pre-soak of seed starting mix? I am using Jiffy Organic seed starting mix, and it dries out after a couple hours so I am constantly having to sprits it with a spray bottle. It was just placed on a shelf in the bedroom until hooks, and then placed under CFLs.

After about 10 days they sprouted, and after a few days when they established themselves, all the stems were dark red. Am I supposed to be applying fertilizer to the little seedling when in this mixture?

What I did was transfer them into regular potting soil only after a few days of sprouting, because I didn't know what else to do about the red stems. I know I have seen people grow the sprouts much larger than what I let them get to, but how??

Why shouldn't I just stick to germinating my seeds directly in soil? The starting mix proved more hassle upon first attempt.

If you were having success with using regular soil then just continue using it -- the main thing is the regular soil is denser so you need to be sure not to bury the seeds too deep otherwise they could run out of energy before breaking the surface -- stating mix is much lighter so planting a bit deeper will not hurt them. Personally I use the pellets since they are easy to store and will absorb all the water they need when you pour water into the tray and they expand plus they already have the indention in the top to place the seed in then you just cover them using some of the surface mix.

Also like the pellets because it makes repotting them easy as you just remove the mesh on the outside of the pellet and bury the entire thing in the new pot - thus no disturbing the roots. But germinating is not that exact of a science so there are many methods that work - so use the method that you have the best success with.

Some seed starting mixes have so much peat in them that water sort of rolls off the top instead of soaking in. With that type I mix the seed starter mix with some topsoil and water wicks in MUCH better. Seedlings need very little fertilizer, normally using a seed starter mix you would not need any for weeks, though if you are reusing soil then it may need a slight boost but not much.

Directly in soil will work too, plants evolved to grow in it... but the looser the starter mix is the less energy the plant has to exert to establish good roots, it's sort of a tradeoff between that and retaining some but not too much moisture.

What about the red stem issue? When sprouts appear from being sewn directly in soil they come out green and happy as can be. The dark red stems did not go away until a few days after being transfered to soil. I can't imagine starting mix has very many nutrients?

Sprouts having stems that turn red for a short period is normal, I also see this happening with seeds directly sewn into topsoil. Generally when I see one sprout among others that doesn't have the stem turn red, it is stunted and grows slower. Very little nutrients are needed by a young sprout, consider that its total mass is a fraction of the mass of a single leaf on an older plant. Establishing a good root system and avoiding fungal growth are the two most important factors at this stage of development.

I use Jiffy seed starter. works the best for me.

DonLava said:

I use Jiffy seed starter. works the best for me.

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The one thing I do not like with those type of trays and starter soil is once they begin to sprout you have to move the entire tray as a unit so can not remove the ones that have sprouted to another location while leaving the rest to continue to germinate in the holder -- while with the pellets you can move each individual pellet as soon as it sprouts.

What I tried recently and worked really well was to take those short clear plastic cups that are about the size of rocks glasses. I drill a 11/16' hole in the bottom for watering and fill them about 2/3 full of potting mix. I then fill the top 1/3 with seedling mix. I plant the seedlings as I otherwise would, about 1/8 to 1/4" deep. When they hook, just put them under the light. As they start to grow and the tap root gets strong enough, it penetrates into the potting mix. No need then to transplant until you are ready to move them out of the clear plastic cups. Another bonus to the clear cups is you can start to see the roots forming when they get big enough. Once they get their second set of true leaves, I give them a spritz of 1/4 strength organic fert. I always bottom water them to minimize the risk of damping off and if the top does get wet, I give it a quick spritz of 1/4 cup H202 in water. I've lost none to damping off this way.

YMMV, but this is how I germed my most recent seeds and plan to do everything next year.