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From: http://meanderfly.blogspot.com/2008/02/soil-mixes-for-seed-starting.html
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Soil Mixes for Seed Starting
There are many ways to start seeds including using straight vermiculite or plantingwith peat pellets. However you shouldn't just scoop up some dirt from your gardento start them in. To promote the best rate of germination, and maximize plantgrowth you need to optimize the environment for your seeds. That way yourseedlings will have the best head start possible on becoming healthy gardenplants. Let me explain what makes a good seed starting medium. I'll even give youtwo good recipes for mixing your own seed starting soils.I promised this post as a follow-up to my newspaper seed starting pots tutorial. Ifyou missed it, you can read it here. The recipes for the starting mediums can, ofcourse, be used in any container you wish.Starting seeds indoors can be very rewarding, but sometimes it becomeshorrendously frustrating. We have all had seeds that refused to germinate andsome that germinated just fine, but died off shortly thereafter. The right seedstarting mix can help to prevent this.There are a plethora of mixes and brands out there and most of them are quitegood. You might want to mix your own seed starting medium for germinatingseeds; a couple of recipes for this are provided at the end of the article.
 
When selecting or mixing a seed starting medium, you want to keep in mind that aseedling is just a baby. It is small and much more fragile than a full-grown plant. Ithas food reserves for its early growth, but moisture is at a premium and must beconstantly provided, still, you don't want to drown it. Your infant plants do indeedneed to be babied if they are to reach their full potential. You don't wrap a baby ina big, heavy, scratchy, dirty, old wool blanket. You use a soft, light, clean, wrap togive your child a pleasant and safe environment. Seedlings should be treated inthe same way.A seed starting medium needs to be completely sterile, anything less and you arelikely to encounter soil bourn diseases that will cut down your seedlings beforethey get a chance to really live. Especially dampening off fungus. Oh you knowwhat I'm talking about - your darling little seedlings are all green and new, thensuddenly - POOF - one day you find them lying limp and dead. You stare indisbelief and wonder what you did wrong.Keep things light. Avoid using a potting mix for your seedlings, it is far too heavy.The seedling has to struggle up through the soil to reach the light and it needs tobe able to extend its delicate new roots through the soil to establish an effectivefeeding mechanism. The lighter the soil, the easier it is for the seedling toaccomplish this. You also need room for good air circulation and heavy soil hasless space for oxygen.Any seed starting mix also needs to be able to hold an adequate amount ofmoisture to prevent the seedling from drying out. It does not take long for a smallundeveloped plant to die from lack of water in the soil. On the other hand you don'twant to saturate your plants either, that might promote the growth of unwantedfungus or bacteria.What you need is a growing medium that is light-weight, allowing the plant tobreathe and grow easily, but at the same time will hold the moisture that your plantneeds to thrive.Sounds like quite the balancing act, doesn't it? And that is exactly what it is. Almostany good commercial seed starting medium will do. Most of these are artificial,they contain no garden loam and provide a safe sterile environment for your
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