Potting soil: Don't be penny wise and pound foolish - Page 2

riley9 · April 15, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironwood

Miracle Gro is literally the worst option. The company that owns them, Monsanto, is literally the worst.

Soctts (Scotts Miracle-Gro) not Monsanto owns Miracle-Gro They also own Osmocote and Hyponex. Monsanto is a separate company and was purchased by Bayer AG in 2018.

Quote:

The company notoriously lies about their ingredients and is being sued for just about anything.

If you are that opposed to Monsanto I suggest looking at the products sold by Bayer. They might be the manufacturer of health care or animal health products you are currently using.

Worth1 · April 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by riley9

Soctts (Scotts Miracle-Gro) not Monsanto owns Miracle-Gro They also own Osmocote and Hyponex. Monsanto is a separate company and was purchased by Bayer AG in 2018.

If you are that opposed to Monsanto I suggest looking at the products sold by Bayer. They might be the manufacturer of health care or animal health products you are currently using.

+1

PaulF · April 16, 2019

I have used several of the more popular soilless mixes both as seed starter and as the potting up medium with few problems in the soilless mix; other problems were caused by me.

The mixes with slow release fertilizer tend to have nutrients enough but I have been know to add a little liquid plant food if the seedlings need a boost. I will never again use the mix that has "water keeper" or "water saver" or whatever it is called. That was a disaster the one time.

I have used a premium seed starter mix and did not have any better results than with the less expensive soilless mixes (but not the cheap-o mixes that have bark and rocks and tree branches).

ginger2778 · April 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Promix BX (M) is hard to beat. The only caveat is that it needs a tiny bit more fertilizer to grow good tomato seedlings. I add 1/2 teaspoon of a complete fertilizer with micronutrients per tray of 48 plants when the plants are about 3 to 4 inches tall.

I would add that every seed start mix I have ever tried needed a bit more fertilizer to get large healthy seedlings.

What's your favorite supplemental fertilizer for the little guys?

April 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Promix BX (M) is hard to beat. The only caveat is that it needs a tiny bit more fertilizer to grow good tomato seedlings. I add 1/2 teaspoon of a complete fertilizer with micronutrients per tray of 48 plants when the plants are about 3 to 4 inches tall.

I would add that every seed start mix I have ever tried needed a bit more fertilizer to get large healthy seedlings.

Agreed. Am pretty annoyed by this, too ...

KarenO · April 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Promix BX (M) is hard to beat. The only caveat is that it needs a tiny bit more fertilizer to grow good tomato seedlings. I add 1/2 teaspoon of a complete fertilizer with micronutrients per tray of 48 plants when the plants are about 3 to 4 inches tall.

I would add that every seed start mix I have ever tried needed a bit more fertilizer to get large healthy seedlings.

Agree, and I like to have full control of it myself, I don’t want added fertilizer especially for seedlings. Not all types seedlings have the same requirements of course and no product can possibly be good for every possible plant grown. There’s more to gardening than tomatoes

shhh dont tell anybody I said that.

Karen

AlittleSalt · April 16, 2019

I use Jiffy Mix for tomato and pepper seedlings. The tomato plants I added slightly warm tap water. For the pepper plants, I did water them once with an extremely diluted calcium nitrate solution 1/4 teaspoon calcium nitrate to 1 gallon of water / metric 1.23223ml calcium nitrate to 3785.41ml water. It wasn't needed.

AlittleSalt · April 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by riley9

Soctts (Scotts Miracle-Gro) not Monsanto owns Miracle-Gro They also own Osmocote and Hyponex. Monsanto is a separate company and was purchased by Bayer AG in 2018.

If you are that opposed to Monsanto I suggest looking at the products sold by Bayer. They might be the manufacturer of health care or animal health products you are currently using.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

+1

Going +2 on this one.

seaeagle · April 17, 2019

If you are using Miracle Grow, you might want to watch this side by side comparison between Miracle Grow and Promix Potting mixes.

I think Fafard is a cheaper option and just as good or almost as good as Promix. Fafard also goes under names like Metromix and Sungro.

Best thing to do is to get some used 55 gallon plastic drums, blue or black, and make your own compost. Some companies will give them away and some will charge a small amount. Be careful of what was in them. If it was Phosphoric acid or Sulfuric acid all you have to is wash them out. I have five.

The compost I make is light, needs no pearlite and I use it for everything from seed starting to container mixes. I have just this year started adding coconut coir half and half with the compost for potting up. Walmart has an 8 pound brick for 8 dollars that has been pre-washed without chemicals and looks great. So far so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0FYQwfeZCc

seaeagle · April 18, 2019

Just a followup on the plastic 55 gallon drum composting. Here is a link on EBAY that might be useful.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_C...+drums&_sop=15

Local pickup for several areas for 10 dollars or less. If you make an offer 10 to 25 percent below the asking price they usually accept it. If you look hard enough in your area you may be able to find them free.

Get the blue or black ones. The white ones don't last as long. In a year or two you will be rolling in compost

throwaway · April 19, 2019

I did a side by side with a MG seedling mix and promix in a ~1 month test run a couple of months ago and the results were virtually identical. Both sets of plants were healthy and no supplemental fertilizer was used. I've read enough failure stories across brands and perceive there is a fair bit of variability batch to batch or year to year from the same product line. Lots of things we can't see or control in the supply chain, so there is probably a reasonable argument for using a couple unique batches/brands if failure is unacceptable to you

.

seaeagle · April 19, 2019

I agree. A lot of the brands are regionally formulated so consistency can be a problem. I have always used Fafard and it has never failed me.

From reading here and across the internet consistency seems to be a problem with Miracle-gro. Growers do not want a mix that is good one year and not so good the next.

I have not seen the same complaints with Promix or Fafard as I have seen with Miracle-gro which is why I guess most of the pros use Promix and Fafard.

xellos99 · April 19, 2019

Unfortunately the quality where I am have fallen over the years.
I think peat or other substances have been banned and seem to have been replaced with hard lumps, unidentified hair or plants waste, twigs and bark chips and so on.
You can still get fairly good stuff but it is very very expensive.

I tend to mix it with garden soil that I have sieved, sand and perlite.

To be honest though im not sure how important it is after seeing professional growers use cheap recycled soil and chicken poo pellets to make chilli pepper plants with 2500+ chilli.

Labradors2 · April 19, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by throwaway

I did a side by side with a MG seedling mix and promix in a ~1 month test run a couple of months ago and the results were virtually identical. Both sets of plants were healthy and no supplemental fertilizer was used. I've read enough failure stories across brands and perceive there is a fair bit of variability batch to batch or year to year from the same product line. Lots of things we can't see or control in the supply chain, so there is probably a reasonable argument for using a couple unique batches/brands if failure is unacceptable to you

.

Interesting! Did your Promix contain any fertilizer? (I'm assuming that the MG did.)

One year, a friend gave me some of her seedlings which she started in Promix with no fertilizer. There was an obvious difference to the ones that I grew in a mix with slow-release fertilizer. No surprise really!

Linda

habitat_gardener · April 19, 2019

I think Sunshine Mix #4 is the most economical seed-starting and potting mix I've found. I've tried various small-bag mixes -- EB Stone was a disaster last year for whatever reason. I bought a bag of Sunshine last year, kept it dry all winter, hydrated it sufficiently when I used it, added some organic potting mix when up-potting, and it has worked very well for 2 years' worth of seed-starting and 1 year of up-potting.

April 16, 2019	#18
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,296	I have used several of the more popular soilless mixes both as seed starter and as the potting up medium with few problems in the soilless mix; other problems were caused by me. The mixes with slow release fertilizer tend to have nutrients enough but I have been know to add a little liquid plant food if the seedlings need a boost. I will never again use the mix that has "water keeper" or "water saver" or whatever it is called. That was a disaster the one time. I have used a premium seed starter mix and did not have any better results than with the less expensive soilless mixes (but not the cheap-o mixes that have bark and rocks and tree branches). __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

April 16, 2019	#22
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	I use Jiffy Mix for tomato and pepper seedlings. The tomato plants I added slightly warm tap water. For the pepper plants, I did water them once with an extremely diluted calcium nitrate solution 1/4 teaspoon calcium nitrate to 1 gallon of water / metric 1.23223ml calcium nitrate to 3785.41ml water. It wasn't needed.

April 17, 2019	#24
seaeagle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: virginia Posts: 743	If you are using Miracle Grow, you might want to watch this side by side comparison between Miracle Grow and Promix Potting mixes. I think Fafard is a cheaper option and just as good or almost as good as Promix. Fafard also goes under names like Metromix and Sungro. Best thing to do is to get some used 55 gallon plastic drums, blue or black, and make your own compost. Some companies will give them away and some will charge a small amount. Be careful of what was in them. If it was Phosphoric acid or Sulfuric acid all you have to is wash them out. I have five. The compost I make is light, needs no pearlite and I use it for everything from seed starting to container mixes. I have just this year started adding coconut coir half and half with the compost for potting up. Walmart has an 8 pound brick for 8 dollars that has been pre-washed without chemicals and looks great. So far so good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0FYQwfeZCc

April 18, 2019	#25
seaeagle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: virginia Posts: 743	Just a followup on the plastic 55 gallon drum composting. Here is a link on EBAY that might be useful. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_C...+drums&_sop=15 Local pickup for several areas for 10 dollars or less. If you make an offer 10 to 25 percent below the asking price they usually accept it. If you look hard enough in your area you may be able to find them free. Get the blue or black ones. The white ones don't last as long. In a year or two you will be rolling in compost

April 19, 2019	#26
throwaway Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Zone 6 Posts: 92	I did a side by side with a MG seedling mix and promix in a ~1 month test run a couple of months ago and the results were virtually identical. Both sets of plants were healthy and no supplemental fertilizer was used. I've read enough failure stories across brands and perceive there is a fair bit of variability batch to batch or year to year from the same product line. Lots of things we can't see or control in the supply chain, so there is probably a reasonable argument for using a couple unique batches/brands if failure is unacceptable to you .

April 19, 2019	#28
xellos99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: wales uk Posts: 236	Unfortunately the quality where I am have fallen over the years. I think peat or other substances have been banned and seem to have been replaced with hard lumps, unidentified hair or plants waste, twigs and bark chips and so on. You can still get fairly good stuff but it is very very expensive. I tend to mix it with garden soil that I have sieved, sand and perlite. To be honest though im not sure how important it is after seeing professional growers use cheap recycled soil and chicken poo pellets to make chilli pepper plants with 2500+ chilli.

April 19, 2019	#30
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	I think Sunshine Mix #4 is the most economical seed-starting and potting mix I've found. I've tried various small-bag mixes -- EB Stone was a disaster last year for whatever reason. I bought a bag of Sunshine last year, kept it dry all winter, hydrated it sufficiently when I used it, added some organic potting mix when up-potting, and it has worked very well for 2 years' worth of seed-starting and 1 year of up-potting.