Diatomaceous Earth as a seed starting medium

[Levent]

Here are 2 examples of my experiments on germinating seeds in diatomite.
First photo Ocimum gratissimum 2.4.2011
Second photo Ocimum gratissimum 26.5.2011
Third photo Solanum abutiloides 15.4.2012

[RayR]

Looks good Levent. Did you notice any difference in growth with the Basil in DE and in whatever seed starting mix you normally use?
What do you do with the Dwarf Tamarillo anyway?

[Levent]

Hi Ray,
I noticed the difference ten years ago!Since then as germinating medium I have used only diatomite.I grow mainly house plants (Stapeliad and Hoyas) in diatomite using simple hydroponic techniques and also some edibles for fun and consumption.S. abutiloides is a novelty for me this year.I plan to consume ripe pods (they're edible) I transferred two plantlets to garden, one to pot culture (ıt's under a porch facing south) one to subirrigation pot (it's in greenhouse) all the rest were donated to relatives.The one in pot culture heads for now and has buds on apical shoot.

[meadowyck]

I have only been involved with DE for getting rid of the fleas that my collies picked after we moved here, and of course keeping the ants out of my house up north. I love when a product has multiple uses.

Thanks so much for sharing your results. I'm gearing up to for seeds next month and I think I'll try some seeds in it.

[ChrisK]

Ray, what was the fertilizer application for the pepper experiment?

[RayR]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Ray, what was the fertilizer application for the pepper experiment?

Plain water until true leaves appeared then Drammatic K Fish Hydrolysate & Kelp Fertilizer, 2-5-0.2 at 1ml per quart of water.

[Levent]

Capsicum seedlings in diatomite under LEDs 17.03.2012

[babice]

RayR - love this experiment and your results. Have you got any theories yet on why the DE works so much better for toms, peppers & onions as a seed-starting mix? And how are these plants doing thus far, assuming you've got them outside? Have you experimented with mixing the DE in with your potting mix?

[RayR]

Originally Posted by babice

RayR - love this experiment and your results. Have you got any theories yet on why the DE works so much better for toms, peppers & onions as a seed-starting mix? And how are these plants doing thus far, assuming you've got them outside? Have you experimented with mixing the DE in with your potting mix?

I don't have all the answers but I don't think there is a lot of mystery here either. Starting seeds this way is a form of hydroponics and that is where some of the answers may be found.

1.) The DE is made of irregular shaped particles so there is no compaction which allows more oxygen getting to the young roots and the roots have an easier time growing between the light weight particles.

2.) DE is very porous so the wicking action from bottom watering keeps water and nutrients moving upward to the roots.

3.) DE has a pretty ideal Cation Exchange Capacity, so it is able to retain nutrients and provide them to the plants when needed.

4.) DE is made of mostly insoluble silica, but has small amounts of soluble silica which is a micronutrient.

Levent has been doing this for a lot longer than I have, so maybe he has something to add.

The plants that I kept are doing just fine out in the garden.

[meadowyck]

Gosh, I'm in luck found a place that sells food grade DE and it is only 1.00 a pound, provided you purchase a 50 LB bag, which isn't a problem as I'm going to also use it for the yard, for flea control. Going to pick it up next Tuesday, hurrraaaayyyyyy, plus I'm going to start all my seed in it as well.

Thanks for sharing your results with us.

[Levent]

Hi,
Ray stated all the rationale that leads the diatomite to success in seed sprouting.I can't add anything more.It was explained decently.
Diatomite is a reliable solid medium option for S/H (simple hydroponics) Here's an example that resulted fruitfully!
Capsicum annuum 'Tricolor Variegata' in S/H (I call it double pot method formerly known as hydroculture)

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Levent

Hi,
Ray stated all the rationale that leads the diatomite to success in seed sprouting.I can't add anything more.It was explained decently.
Diatomite is a reliable solid medium option for S/H (simple hydroponics) Here's an example that resulted fruitfully!
Capsicum annuum 'Tricolor Variegata' in S/H (I call it double pot method formerly known as hydroculture)

Nice pepper plant.

[nativeplanter]

Ray and Levent, I am really impressed by the growth you are getting from DE. Especially the seedling roots! I think I'll give it a go. How do you determine the amount of nutrients to add to the water once leaves have developed? I'm unfamiliar with Drammatic, so I don't know how your dosing compares to the regular dilution rate. Is it possible to put in terms of percent strength of fertilizer? Or how does one figure it out?

[RayR]

Originally Posted by nativeplanter

Ray and Levent, I am really impressed by the growth you are getting from DE. Especially the seedling roots! I think I'll give it a go. How do you determine the amount of nutrients to add to the water once leaves have developed? I'm unfamiliar with Drammatic, so I don't know how your dosing compares to the regular dilution rate. Is it possible to put in terms of percent strength of fertilizer? Or how does one figure it out?

I was just making an educated guess based on my original observations with DE.
DE will wick up and absorb far more water than seed starting mix, therefore it will also draw up more nutrients that are introduced into the water. It just seemed reasonable to use a lighter dose of fertilizer in the water with that consideration. Besides, in my initial experiment with onion seedlings, I used a higher dose of fertilizer at first, but that only seemed to encourage thick algae growth on the surface of the DE. In my second trial with onions, I cut back the fertilizer and the onion seedlings grew just as well and the algae growth was minimal.
On the Jiffy Mix plants after noticing the DE plants were doing better, I upped the fertilizer dosage on the Jiffy Mix plants, but that didn't make any difference, the DE plants still grew better.
I used Drammatic K Fish & Seaweed because that is what I had on hand from the previous year and it worked fine, you could use some other brand and it will probably work just as well. I didn't even try using synthetics because I have been working strictly with organics for a few years now, but I guess there is a lot of room for all kinds of experiments.

[Levent]

I use only inorganic liquid fert in suggested dose.For this plant I apply alternately fert (8-8-8) and plain water.So the effective dose becomes half.