I know if I search enough and read enough I can find my answers but I don't really have time. I couldn't help but order some seeds from THSC and I want to go ahead and try to germinate a few. I bought a little greenhouse type thing with a heating pad but I'm not sure what kind of soil I should use to germinate the seeds. What do you all find best?
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seeds Germination question on soil
- Thread starter CCW13
- Start date
I can't tell you the best, But I will tell you waht I have used and what I think... Jiffy makes a seed starter soil. A half cubic foot is about 5 bux and will fill about 3 72cell starter trays. THis stuff is kinda difficult to use. First off it seems to shed water instead of hold it. I had to add water to the bag of soil and shake it periodicly for about a half an hour. Then i poured it thru a fine collander (screen of some sort). That was a pain. After that, it is pretty decent. However, when you let the soil dry out. it is hard as a rock and takes a while to soak in more water. All in all... I hate that product...
I started using a bit more expensive seed starter called Light Warrior made by Fox Farms.. It is available at most hydro shops. It Is about 20 bux for 1.5 cubic ft. It has thrichoderma and microrhizae which help with keeping the seedling healthy while young. This mix is very light (not heavy or dense). It has a small amount of starter nutrients which allows the plant to live longer before needing you to add nutes. This makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth when I spend the extra cash......
On the other hand, my next door neighbor uses gravel and peat moss... He then waters his seeds in with liquid seaweed until he transplants them into the ground. That is really cheap.
You can also use rockwool but don't let it stay too wet or else the seedlings will fall over about a week after they sprout. THis is called "damping off".
Depending on the temperature, you may not need a heat mat. Don't allow the soil temp to exceed 90 degrees F or you may not have any sprouts. I keep mine at 80-85 for seedlings.
Also seeds don't need light to germinate. Once they germinate they need light so they don't get too leggy too fast. I keep my lights of for 24hrs a day until i move them into 4 inch pots. Then i move it back to 16 on 8 off.
I hope this helps..
I started using a bit more expensive seed starter called Light Warrior made by Fox Farms.. It is available at most hydro shops. It Is about 20 bux for 1.5 cubic ft. It has thrichoderma and microrhizae which help with keeping the seedling healthy while young. This mix is very light (not heavy or dense). It has a small amount of starter nutrients which allows the plant to live longer before needing you to add nutes. This makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth when I spend the extra cash......
On the other hand, my next door neighbor uses gravel and peat moss... He then waters his seeds in with liquid seaweed until he transplants them into the ground. That is really cheap.
You can also use rockwool but don't let it stay too wet or else the seedlings will fall over about a week after they sprout. THis is called "damping off".
Depending on the temperature, you may not need a heat mat. Don't allow the soil temp to exceed 90 degrees F or you may not have any sprouts. I keep mine at 80-85 for seedlings.
Also seeds don't need light to germinate. Once they germinate they need light so they don't get too leggy too fast. I keep my lights of for 24hrs a day until i move them into 4 inch pots. Then i move it back to 16 on 8 off.
I hope this helps..
I try not to make it too soggy, since the dome will keep it moist. I fill the tray up to about 1cm below the top and then mist it to get it pretty moist. Then I lay the seed on top and cover with the last cm of soil. Then mist that until it gets moist. That way there is moist soil both above and below the seed.
if you're in the east coast, treat your Miracle Gro stuff with BTi. A lot of reports of it coming with gnat eggs in them. If you keep it moist as you should for starting seeds, you'll might have to deal with those.
Funny you mention that (well not really). My wife did use some miracle grow stuff in a money tree we have and I just got done waging war with an army of gnats! They were all over. I wonder if that is where they came from. I even poured ammonia down the drains thinking maybe from those.
Coco coir is awesome too! I have used this in containers with great results. Im in the ground this year so i wanted to start in a similar media.
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
I only use Hoffmans seed starting mix...
http://www.marketworks.com/StoreFrontProfiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sfid=124287&c=729283&i=238378589
it is the cleanest of the seed starting mixes and also IMO the lightest...true it takes a while for it to soak up the water but the way I do it is simply put the seed starting mix in the starter trays, plant the seeds, then sit the seed starting tray in water and leave it until the soil soaks up the water until saturated...this is just the way I do it...right, wrong, or indifferent...
I have used jiffy seed starting mix and the light warrior...again, this is my opinion, but, the jiffy seed starting mix is not as clean as the hoffmans (twigs and larger bits of "stuff"), and the perlite in the light warrior is too large IMO....
http://www.marketworks.com/StoreFrontProfiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sfid=124287&c=729283&i=238378589
it is the cleanest of the seed starting mixes and also IMO the lightest...true it takes a while for it to soak up the water but the way I do it is simply put the seed starting mix in the starter trays, plant the seeds, then sit the seed starting tray in water and leave it until the soil soaks up the water until saturated...this is just the way I do it...right, wrong, or indifferent...
I have used jiffy seed starting mix and the light warrior...again, this is my opinion, but, the jiffy seed starting mix is not as clean as the hoffmans (twigs and larger bits of "stuff"), and the perlite in the light warrior is too large IMO....
Jiffy seed starting mix works pretty good once you get it wet. I didn't like the miracle grow at all. It was very heavy and I got the worst germination rates from it. I prefer Pro-mix myself. I used the Ultimate Seed Startng Mix, but I know others just use the BX to start seeds. I had to order it from the Greenhouse Megastore, but it was worth the shipping. I got over 90% germination with it.
jacob
jacob
In my opinion soil is more important after germination. Heat and moisture are what's really important for sprouting. Try germinating using the paper towel/coffee filter technique and then transplant into a good loose, well drained, ph'd "soil"
I personally like peat based mediums but coir is also good if you use coir specific nutrients
I personally like peat based mediums but coir is also good if you use coir specific nutrients
+1 Couldn't agree more! Cheers.
I used fox farms ocean forest. It worked well. With how loose it was it seemed like it would be hard to over water anything in it as long as the container has good drainage. This was my first year doing this from seeds and i didn't really have a very large seed sample but for me starting in soil worked better than starting with the baggy method. I will continue to use this soil for as long as I can find it.