Best Seedling Soil?

[Indio]

Hola; I'm having a problem I believe is soil related- I germinated 8 seeds in wet paper towels w/ no problems. After I removed them from the towels, I put them into styrofoam cups filled w/ "seed starter mix" I bought at Home Depot. Everything went fine for a few days and then one by one, I started losing plants. The stems "narrow" and then the leaves took on a the same blueish green color your lawn takes on when it's trying to conserve moisture. Next the leaves wilt, shrivel & die. The top of the stem looks dehydrated/burnt. I think the soil may have been too acidic, as it contains peatmoss & bark. I've got more seeds in towels, and when they crack I'd like to use something else to bed them in (straight Vermiculite, maybe? ) What is the consensus here as to the best seedling transplant medium to use? -Thanks- El Indio

 

[420MyTime]

Go to walmart and get ya some Jiffy brand Organic Seed Starting Mix. It's about $4 for a 10 quart sack. It's light and fluffy so it's gentle on your beans and the only additive other that organic matter is added lime so it's ph balanced.

 

[Indio]

Go to walmart and get ya some Jiffy brand Organic Seed Starting Mix. It's about $4 for a 10 quart sack. It's light and fluffy so it's gentle on your beans and the only additive other that organic matter is added lime so it's ph balanced.

Thanks for steppin' up, 420- I guess I didn't realize what a tough crowd this is...

 

[bikasart]

never buy anything else but fosfarm

 

[potpimp]

Good call 420. The important thing is to start NOW to get your soil ready when you upcan. You need to mix your spagnum peat moss, potting soil, perlite, vermiculite, aged manure, dolomitic lime, blood meal, bone meal, cottonseed meal and let it sit for at least a couple of weeks before you transplant into it.

 

[gopherbuddah]

I would say anything foxfarm. They have all the nutes you need for the first 30 days or so. My girls love it

 

[rocpilefsj]

I use sterilized soil mixed with worm castings, perlite, and premix soil with a value of 12-6-6 or there around. Works great for me.

 

[Indio]

This is all very useful to me- Thank you very much for the response! -El Indio-

 

[riddleme]

I start my seeds in FoxFarm Happy Frogs plus a bit of Dolomite

 

[potpimp]

For *starting* seeds I would only use FF Light Warrior; it has the lowest nutes of any of the FF brands. I love their products and use them; they smell positively alive.

 

[Unclepauly]

Good call 420. The important thing is to start NOW to get your soil ready when you upcan. You need to mix your spagnum peat moss, potting soil, perlite, vermiculite, aged manure, dolomitic lime, blood meal, bone meal, cottonseed meal and let it sit for at least a couple of weeks before you transplant into it.

Damn, I must've screwed up bad then. I just transplanted into a 5 gallon bucket of Hyponex with a little perlite added in about 10 days ago. No nutes added or anything. What now?

 

[svchop889]

Damn, I must've screwed up bad then. I just transplanted into a 5 gallon bucket of Hyponex with a little perlite added in about 10 days ago. No nutes added or anything. What now?

well I bet that 5 gallons of hyponex cost you about 5$ you can use nutrients in your water instead. next time buy some not so cheap soil. I use hypo to dilute my Miracle Grow Organic choice and to add some sand. but I also add Espoma bio-tone, wood ash, Epsom salt, and Perlite. thats for my seedlings. I measure very carefully though. I know some will flame and say thats too much shit for seedlings. I was aprehensive about the mix at first... NOT ANYMORE HOLY CRAP

 

[Unclepauly]

well I bet that 5 gallons of hyponex cost you about 5$ you can use nutrients in your water instead. next time buy some not so cheap soil. I use hypo to dilute my Miracle Grow Organic choice and to add some sand. but I also add Espoma bio-tone, wood ash, Epsom salt, and Perlite. thats for my seedlings. I measure very carefully though. I know some will flame and say thats too much shit for seedlings. I was aprehensive about the mix at first... NOT ANYMORE HOLY CRAP

Yeah I think I'll be visiting my hydro store tomorrow, a buddy told me to use just hypo with perlite as it's good enough for the first month or so. After reading this board for the past couple days I'm pretty sure he's wrong.

They're not looking bad though they dry out pretty quickly.

 

[svchop889]

Yeah I think I'll be visiting my hydro store tomorrow, a buddy told me to use just hypo with perlite as it's good enough for the first month or so. After reading this board for the past couple days I'm pretty sure he's wrong.

They're not looking bad though they dry out pretty quickly.

yeah that sounds kind of off. did you use Miracle grow Perlite? it is enriched with plant food supposedly but I still only see it being good for about 3 weeks after that you will begin to see the signs it needs food

 

[tfishing]

Fertilome - seedling/ cutting starter. Stuff is GREAT, you should be able to find it at your local nursery. This is what you want.

 

[potpimp]

SVCHOP gave some good advice.

 

[svchop889]

SVCHOP gave some good advice.

thank you sir

 

[GreenDragon77]

I use Jiffy organic seed starter dont waste money on more expensive soil or fertilizers until about 2 or 3 weeks. Seedlings have there own stores of nutrients and energy that will take them that far. Using nutrient before they are acouple weeks old is a waste and could burn your seedlings. Good Luck!!

 

[Unclepauly]

yeah that sounds kind of off. did you use Miracle grow Perlite? it is enriched with plant food supposedly but I still only see it being good for about 3 weeks after that you will begin to see the signs it needs food

Yeah, I used MG perlite but not much at all. I sprinkled in just enough perlite to make the dirt look the way it does on the front of the perlite bag. A couple plants are a little yellow on the bottom leaves but they seem OK.

 

[svchop889]

I use Jiffy organic seed starter dont waste money on more expensive soil or fertilizers until about 2 or 3 weeks. Seedlings have there own stores of nutrients and energy that will take them that far. Using nutrient before they are acouple weeks old is a waste and could burn your seedlings. Good Luck!!

good advice for beginners. general rule of thumb is to wait 2-3 weeks, I recommend you follow this advice. /\
ll
but I found this:
http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/biotone_02.html

and I used 3/4 cup per gallon of soil and my plant did not burn I put them in as seeds 15 days ago and now I have the best plants I have ever grown.