Diatomaceous Earth as a seed starting medium

[RayR]

Originally Posted by meadowyck

Ray how many days did it take before your seeds sprouted? If this was already answered in this thread no need to post again, I'll go back and re-read this weekend when I have more time.

thanks

I didn't keep records on germination times, but I didn't notice any shorter times for the types of seeds that I planted so far. That's not to say that some types of seed may germinate faster—we'll see.
I planted some lettuce seed that I harvested in 2010 to test germination about a week ago and they sprouted in 3 days which is typical for lettuce.

[meadowyck]

Well I just checked again this morning and have more sprouted.... its amazing what will sprout when you keep the DE watered......

[Baja_Traveler]

I tried DE from Autozone after reading this thread, and most of my lettuce has sprouted and growing well for the past week, but none of the broccoli germinated. I guess thats one that I will seed directly in the garden...

[Diriel]

RayR,

Sorry I missed the post where you tested. I just went back and looked. The EP Minerals site lists Axis, and Play Ball, among it's products. I am glad you posted this information up sir, thank you. I will definitely test the Napa that I can source locally before I go out and buy a large enough quantity to do my upcoming raised beds.

Thank you,
Gary
P.S. I just looked at the Blue Ribbon D.E. that I have and it is made by the Moltan company. I will still test the local Napa Floor-Dri for PH when I get a chance just to have the comparison. If it turns out too high PH, the Blue Ribbon D.E. is actually slightly cheaper so I may just clean out the shelves of the local dollar tree ever so often.

[Rockporter]

I wish my dollar tree carried the blue ribbon but I can get the 15lbs at autozone for $5.99. I am glad I only need it to start seeds, lol.

[Diriel]

Link to Axis (E.P. Minerals product) PDF: http://www.axisplayball.com/home_htm...I%20FORMAT.pdf

--
Link to Moltan PDF: http://www.moltan.com/msds/MSDS%20pd..._CatLitter.pdf

Both claim a PH of 7. I suggest we all start testing before jumping into full scale use. Just what I wanted.. more complexity. I suppose it is for the best, I will simply have to buy and test some of each.

[Tonio]

Got ultrasorb past weekend, much better than the blue ribbon cat litter. It finer and constistant.

Got borccoli sprouted already- thats 3days !!

it absorbs alot better than the cat litter version, or Turface.

[Diriel]

I was researching for granule size: http://www.moltan.com/Products/absorbentsDE.htm

-- UltraSorb is medium granule
-- SelectSorb is fine granule
-- OptiSorb is coarse granule

Glad I found this, I can tailor soil amending better. I think perhaps I will try some of the fine for seed starting next.

Have a good one!

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Baja_Traveler

I tried DE from Autozone after reading this thread, and most of my lettuce has sprouted and growing well for the past week, but none of the broccoli germinated. I guess thats one that I will seed directly in the garden...

I have had terrific germination with brocoli using the Ultrasorb. As a matter of fact I have found everything so far has done much better than with normal seed starting mixes.

I have found that everything seems to be sprouting faster with the Ultrasorb than with other seed starting mixes except maybe lettuce which is always fast. The biggest difference was with spinach seed and cilantro. Both of them are usually slow sprouting in regular seed starting mixes but with the Ultrasorb both sprouted much faster with much higher germination rates.

It wont be long before I get to find out if it creates any problems when transplanting. I can tell it will have to be wet or it will just not hold to the roots when trying to transplant.

[Tonio]

cilantro too? good to know, usually for direct seeding in beds takes quite a while, as they need to be in the dark to sprout. I usually put seeds in a few 4" inch pots outside near the house for shade, then into the sun when the sprout. Then transplant in to the beds.

Agree about hesitation on the transplanting. Tomato, pepper may be good enough, but with tender rooted plants we will see.

[Tonio]

Baja traveler, how deep did you sow the broccoli? I just placed on top of the DE, firmed it down with a finger , and spread a few grains of DE on top. If its too deep, it will take longer, they need light with good contact to the medium(moisture)to sprout.

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by Diriel

I was researching for granule size: http://www.moltan.com/Products/absorbentsDE.htm

-- UltraSorb is medium granule
-- SelectSorb is fine granule
-- OptiSorb is coarse granule

Glad I found this, I can tailor soil amending better. I think perhaps I will try some of the fine for seed starting next.

Have a good one!

Diriel,

Let us know if you find a source for the fine grain sized selectsorb. It may/may not be better for tender rooted plants.
They come in 20 &25# bags, wondering the cost difference.

[Baja_Traveler]

Originally Posted by Tonio

Baja traveler, how deep did you sow the broccoli? I just placed on top of the DE, firmed it down with a finger , and spread a few grains of DE on top. If its too deep, it will take longer, they need light with good contact to the medium(moisture)to sprout.

I used a sharpened pencil to poke a hole in the pre-moistened DE probably 1/4 or 3/8" deep and dropped the seed in and covered. Maybe it is too deep? I'll try again on the surface to see what happens, it's been over 3 weeks and no growth in those spots...

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Tonio

Diriel,

Let us know if you find a source for the fine grain sized selectsorb. It may/may not be better for tender rooted plants.
They come in 20 &25# bags, wondering the cost difference.

Grainger is another source for Moltan products. If you have a branch nearby, you can order it and pick it up there. The local branch here is only a few miles from my house.

I have my reservations about the fine grain also. I don't want anything too dense.
The medium and coarse grain are easy to work with.

[Rockporter]

The problem I am having with my ultrasorb seed starts is that each time I pick up the tray to move into the sun I lose one or two of my separate cells to the underside of the tray.

Does this make sense? I have holes where the seeds were planted because the ultrasorb is falling into the bottom tray. Also, I couldn't water from the bottom originally because when I slightly picked up the upper tray it caused the DE to fall into the bottom tray and emptied a few cells.

I watered slowly into one of the cells and I lost three cells right away as the water sucked it out of the cells. I think I need to line the cells with something other than all DE to counteract this issue. Do you think a small layer of peat based seed starter might help to keep everything where it is supposed to be?

I am thinking about 1/4 of the tray in peat based with a little water to wet it down and then add the DE to the top and plant the seeds in that. Any other ideas?