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Hi everyone, I have been looking for supplies recently, when I saw a soil product called "Yates Seed Raising Mix"
I almost bought it until I noticed in the bottom left corner of the bag it said "Added fertilizer to boost seedling growth" Its the only seed mix they had at the local store, is it ok to start growing in this? Or will I have to trek further to find another product.
I've copied the following info from their website:
Quote: Ideal mix for germination of vegetable, herb and flower seeds and for propagation. Features
Specially formulated with a fine grade of pine bark which aids in trouble free germination. Enriched with a fine grade of Nutricote to feed seedlings and cuttings until they are planted out Contains a fine grade of composted pine bark which allows good contact between seed and mix.
Ingredients
Nutricote, fine grade composted pine bark, sand trace elements and fertiliser. Precautions
Health Warning. This product contains micro-organisms that may be harmful to your health. Avoid breathing dust or mists. Wear particulate mask if dusty. Wear gloves and keep product moist when handling. Wash hands immediately after use. Read detailed warning label on the bag.
This is just coming from a very basic knowledge in nutrients/soil. But I've had sucsess with simple miracle grow potting soil. I'm sure this would work well. If your really strapped, look into rockwool cubes. You can always transfer them into normal potting soil once they sprout.
Any soil mix that is for seedlings SHOULD be lightly fertilized not suitable for more than the first couple weeks of plant growth depending on the container size. You can get Jiffy pellets, Rapid Rooters, Rockwool cubes, etc that are suitable for starting seeds in if you find selecting a soil for germination is too intimidating(which it definitely shouldn't be).
Ingredients are supposed to be listed in order of most present and the main ingredient in this particular product is "nutricote" a google search tells me that Nutricote is a controlled release fertilizer. That doesn't necessarily mean that this product isn't suitable for germinating seedlings but I personally would avoid such a product as I like to keep things organic and natural when dealing with soil. This is just my personal choice since I feel if I'm going to make a decision to grow with soil I want to use organic soil. I can only assume this product works for germination as it's marketed for that purpose.
A lot of people (myself included) use bagged all purpose soil for germination that isn't intended for germination purposes and usually don't run into problems with burning seedlings. I would say go ahead with this stuff if you can't find an all natural / organic seedling mix other than the nutricote the ingredients are basically what you would look for in a seedling/germination mix. You want light ingredients that aren't heavy on nutrients - composed bark, peat, perlite, vermiculite, coco coir, worm castings (you can plant seeds directly in worm castings the only problem being worm castings are very dense), rock dusts, mycorrhizae are all good ingredients to look for with a large composition being bark and peat avoid starter soils (seedling/germination) that have bat guano, chicken manure, seabird guano, shrimp/crab/fish meal, cotton seed meal, wood ash, etc etc some of these ingredients are beneficial in any soil mix but generally speaking aren't worth the addition as the seedling phase is rather insignificant in terms of overall growth and nutritient requirements.
Another thing to look for is texture, you want something relatively fine so that the roots can establish themselves and hold together the "plug" when it's time to transplant if you have large pieces of perlite, rocks, peat, etc you'll have a harder time removing the plug and it may fall apart damaging the roots.
Yeah sorry, I should have updated this thread. I was able to find a potting mix soil with no fertilizers to start my seedlings in. I think it was made by Yates, and the brand name was "Evergreen" potting mix.
Really cheap from the local Coles supermarket. My seedlings seem to be doing well in them. And my Papaver somniferum poppies seem to be thriving in it as well. I recommend them to any new Aussie growers looking to select a seedling grow medium.
-------------------- In the human brain, the hypothalamus controls the four f's:
1. Fighting 2. Fleeing 3. Feeding and ...4. Mating
Quote: aljeezzy said: pine bark doesn't let plants grow well. real talk.
Care to elaborate?
Composted bark is generally fine and light weight. I wouldn't use it exclusively but I've bought on numerous occasions soil that was 25% composted bark.
pine bark is used to supress weeds. it contains chems that don't jive with living rootsystems. maybe composted pine bark is less active. if you ever listen to national public radio on saterdays at noonish there is a program called 'u bet your garden' and even that guy warns about pine bark. id give you a link to an article or something but i'm lazy_ _ _ i use jiffymix for seeds and here in east tn there is a store called evergreen and they sell evergreen potting mix and its nice, i add more perlite to it BUT it contains 0.5:0.5:0.5 slow release 'bloomcote' which isn't organic but it is still a good product, and it probly contains composted pine bark...
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