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Gary350
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7396
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

What planting mix do you use for planting seeds?

Today I decided it is not too late to start some plants from seeds. I found all of my plant trays that I have not used in 15 years. I bought several packs of seeds and 1 bag of planting soil from Lowe's.

The planting soil looked like black pieces of chopped wood. The pieces were as large as pencils. The wood chips were too large to go into the seed trays so I dumped the whole bag of that junk in the garden.

I went to a different store and was told the Sta-Green Flower & Vegatable Planting mix is the best so I bought a bag. It looks like black wood chips too but the pieces are smaller. This is not my idea of planting mix.

Last time I grew my own seeds was 15 years ago when we lived in the other house. I use to buy some stuff that looked like compost in a bag. I think this summer I am going to save about 20 gallons of my compost for planting seeds next spring.

What planting mix do you all buy for planting your seeds???

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hendi_alex
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 3604
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

I use stay green potting soil mix, but loosen the soil with small grade perlite. Also if the seed are small, they get covered with a light sprinkling of Michigan peat. That method has worked very well for me for the past couple of seasons.

If the coarse texture bothers you, why not use a fine mesh screen to separate out the larger material.

cynthia_h
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7500
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 7:02 pm
Location: El Cerrito, CA

I didn't start any seeds this year, but last year I did.

I used a mix of 50 / 50 my own compost + purchased organic potting soil. I only needed one 2-cubic-foot bag for my seeds. I ended up using some of my "potting mix" to repot larger plants, too, so I could probably have gotten by with a 1-cubic-foot bag for the seeds alone.

If you have your own compost (I think you do, if the tornado didn't take it?), this might be one way to go.

Cynthia H.
El Cerrito, CA



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