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Post by kazedwards on Jun 10, 2016 0:34:15 GMT -5
I also just bought a bag of seedling mix a few days ago. [...] I'm thinking I will have better luck with the happy frog. Has anyone used it? I have loved using "Coco Loco" which is made by the same company. Last winter, I received a card signed by a bunch of the staff at FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company. That's very good to hear! I will have to try Covo Loco next time I need a bag. |
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Post by kazedwards on Jun 10, 2016 0:36:09 GMT -5
I'v moving totally away from using any purchased materials to start or grow my plants. I don't want some city sewage or spilled diesel fuel scraped up with commercial compost or anything else added to my gardens. With few exceptions I start everything outside in unheated cold frames in pots of my own compost and soil, I don't sterilize anything. If something doesn't like those conditions or the organisms in my soil then it is welcome to remove itself from gene pool. I'm looking for self sustainability and figure anything I can't provide myself or needs too much special attention is counter to that. I would love to make/use my own. I have looked into it a lot but my soil here is so heavy I haven't tried. I thought about making it with compost but seem to use more than I make. |
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 10, 2016 12:02:51 GMT -5
I make my own potting soil using approximately 60% garden soil, 30% my own compost and 10% vermiculite. If I think about it I add some lime but I rarely think about it  The vermiculite is the only purchased part of the mix, and it's purely to lighten things up a bit. If you have heavy clay soil you might use sphagnum moss for the same purpose, it lightens and aerates and contains very little plant nutrition and is cheaper in some places. And I echo reed's thoughts about sterilization and the gene pool. |
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 10, 2016 12:05:29 GMT -5
(reason that I mention sphagnum contains very little plant nutrition--this is actually good for young seedlings, you don't want them to get too much nitrogen or they damp off easier. I water them with diluted urine + maybe some seaweed/liquid fish if I have it a couple times, once they have a couple true leaves.)
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jun 11, 2016 0:29:56 GMT -5
I make my own potting soil using approximately 60% garden soil, 30% my own compost and 10% vermiculite. How do you deal with weed seeds? |
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jocundi
gopher
Tinkering with fruits and veggies in Eastern Boreal Forest on Canadian Shield.
Posts: 28 
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Post by jocundi on Jun 11, 2016 7:40:16 GMT -5
Some of what I see in the pictures (thin curling leaves) is what I thought was a problem when I first grew the Polish Pepper tomato 4 years ago. Luckily I didn't discard those seedlings for fear of virus and later learned that this is this type's normal look and growth habit. I get plentiful healthy harvests and quite like them and actually like that plants are so easy to recognize.
Of course if this is happening on your known varieties that usually don't look like this, it doesn't apply, but just thought I'd mention in case these are new varieties you haven't grown.
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Post by reed on Jun 11, 2016 10:25:10 GMT -5
There are lots of good substitutes for sphagnum and peat moss, I think, that are free and available about anywhere. If nothing else, assuming your yard isn't poisoned, grass clippings work pretty good. Just let the grass get tall and mow it down and leave it to dry up, then rake it up and save it. Don't compost it just let it get good and dry. Weeds you pulled up, all kinds of things just dry em and save. You can weed sterilize some dirt by putting in a bag in the sun for awhile then letting it dry out. Mix it good with the clippings and weeds and keep it dry until you need it.
If you want it biologically sterile, which I usually don't, cook it in the oven. Warning, if your house is like mine, don't let the woman find out.
I'm lucky to have lots of black locust trees, the little leaves and twigs along with the dirt that comes with them if gathered with a garden rather than leaf rake is premo stuff.
This works good for me but it might not for people growing on a bigger scale. You need a lot of dried up weeds to equal the volume of one of those sphagnum bags.
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 13, 2016 9:55:45 GMT -5
Dealing with weed seeds is the trick! Joseph Lofthouse, you caught me there. The answer is that I hand pull 'em as they come out. Often times my veggies sprout first because they don't have the seed dormancy mechanisms that weeds do. I try to grow as few transplants as possible, so hand-pulling isn't a big pain for me. If I ran a different sort of operation I might do as reed does and solarize the soil. Right now I have a tray full of leeks that desperately need to be transplanted, but at least they're holding their own against the grass and sorrel that I haven't gotten around to pulling.... |
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Post by reed on Jun 13, 2016 10:51:24 GMT -5
That's what I do too, just pull them out. I generally start my plants in deep pots too instead of little cell pack things. I think that makes weeding a little easier. This year I saved some of the purslane weeds to experiment with, since I learned here that it isn't just a weed.
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Post by reed on Jun 13, 2016 11:48:28 GMT -5
Often times my veggies sprout first because they don't have the seed dormancy mechanisms that weeds do. That's why it doesn't seem to be that much of a problem? Never thought of that. |
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Post by mountaindweller on Jun 16, 2016 20:33:48 GMT -5
I use commercial potting mix which the local landscape yard mixes up. He does it batch by batch so I can tell what I want. For seeds I sieve the upper layer so it is finer. Sterilizing does not help because weed seeds fly around all the time. What would we be without weeds? Thanks for the links! mountainherbs.net/ |
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The vermiculite is the only purchased part of the mix, and it's purely to lighten things up a bit. If you have heavy clay soil you might use sphagnum moss for the same purpose, it lightens and aerates and contains very little plant nutrition and is cheaper in some places. And I echo 
