Roots Organics Formula 707

Hello folks. Question. Which medium would work for seeds soaked in distilled water. I estimate they will be ready to plant tomorrow. I have:

1. "Seed Starting Jiffy Mix" and "Jiffy # 2 Peat Pots,"
2. "Jiffy-7 Peat Pellets," and
3. "Roots Organics Formula 707."

I was thinking of starting them in the Formula 707 in large yogurt containers or in one gallon pots. I bought some dolomite lime. Should I add some now and if so how much? If you can think of anything else that might give these Maui Wowi's a chance. There have been fungus fleas roaming my lanai from Ti Plants and Money Trees and slugs grazing on new seedling of cantelope and watermelon. I have some AzaMax with Azadirachtin too but not sure if I should use it on the seedlings' medium.

Thanks for the help.

Dolomite takes time to breakdown so adding it to your mix now will cause problems. You need to cook the mix if you add dolomite to it.

Thanks Gandolf. Will a tap root survive better in the Formula 707 or a medium with almost no nutes in it? I could mix the little bag of Jiffy Mix with an equal amount of Formula 707 just to be middle of the road. At this point I would be happy to see anything with leaves on it. How do you cook the mix - let the lime breakdown over time and then use the medium?

I've used the jiffy mix (I think its what I'm thinking of). Is it light and fluffy, with perlite in it?

Personally I like mixing soils to get what I want. A seed has enough stored energy to grow the plant through a couple of nodes before it needs ANY thing other than water. But, I would go ahead and use at least a partial mix of a medium with nutes in it, to go ahead and have the plant start getting acclimated to nutes sooner, that way you can worry less when you start feeding (I start my seedlings in fox farms ocean forest. People say its too hot for seedlings but I've had no problems.

I would mix enough of the jiffy to keep it a little fluffy

Thor, thank you! I put one germinated seed into just the Jiffy Mix in the Jiffy Pot a couple of days ago and I don't see anything sprouting. I will put the others in the mixture of Formula 707 and fluffy Jiffy Mix and will try to get back to you on any progress. I was at a local vendor and they had Fox Farms and I went with the slightly cheaper soil. This is a budget issue. Thanks again.

The Maui Wowi seeds did not pop a root in 32+ hours in distilled water. I moved them to a paper towel with plates on top and bottom in a warm place. If they can't sprout with water, oxygen, and warmth they ain't gonna sprout. My cantelope and watermelon sprouted so easily. Too bad Mary Jane is not as forgiving. The roadsides would be be covered with plants. To the seed company - I think I may have to contact you about these light colored seeds. I would like to see one sprout out of the ten I bought from you.

I would go with roots 707. I have a bag of jiffy seed starting mix and I don't like it at all. It seems to be about 50% peat and 50% vermiculite. I don't care much for those peat pellets either.

On a side note, there is no need to soak seeds prior to planting. Maybe if they were really old seeds, like 5+ years, but other than that it is just another unnecessary step that makes things more complicated than they need to be

Thanks sonar! I watched a guy on the web soak them and within 48 hours they had a long root. I will avoid that technique next time I plant seeds. Looks like I've been doing a lot of copy-catting instead of just planting the seeds.

RIPE said:

Thanks sonar! I watched a guy on the web soak them and within 48 hours they had a long root. I will avoid that technique next time I plant seeds. Looks like I've been doing a lot of copy-catting instead of just planting the seeds.

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I've done it myself for years, but I found that the taproot is much too fragile and there is a risk of damaging it in the process of transferring it to the soil.