AlboPepper - Drought Proof Urban Gardening | Sustainable Worm Casting / Compost Mix vs Retail Seed Starting Mix @Albopepper | Uploaded March 2016 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
This experiment was even more exciting than my earlier one. Not only was I testing worm castings again, but also compost. And to top it all off, I even tried my old bag of Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix.
I was looking for a self renewing mix of components for growing seedlings. And I'm happy to say: I found not one but TWO options! Both worm castings and sifted compost yielded acceptable results. In the batches that I was working with, I found that young seedlings had no troubles germinating. So my particular ingredients must not have be too salt-laden (which would have hindered germination due to osmotic stress).
However, the compost and vermi-compost were by no means weak. They contained enough nutrients and fertility to carry my lettuce well beyond the seedling stage. The nicely matured plants showed no signs of deficiency at harvest time. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of my Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix. It showed promise for the 1st two weeks, but then the plant soon halted and eventually declined.
If you read the packaging, I suppose this should come as no surprise. Miracle Gro recommends feeding your plant with their liquid plant feed. So right from the beginning, you can expect to find yourself on a supplementation treadmill. -Something to keep in mind when evaluating this potting mix product.
An extra insight I gained from this experiment deals with the idea of soil sterilization. I took no steps to heat-treat or pasteurize my seed starting mixes. But the presence of living microbes did not cause any problems for my lettuce seedlings. There were no "damping off" issues. In fact, the compost & vermi-compost plants were much healthier than the MG plant.
For more info about how to prevent damping off:
albopepper.com/soil-sterilization.php
Read more: Vermi-composting
► link.albopepper.com/worms
Read more: Composting:
► link.albopepper.com/compost
FINAL THOUGHTS: I intend to use both worm castings and compost in my seed starting mixes, when available. A 50/50 ratio gave the best results in this test. The 100% compost worked ok, but the mix was loose and fell apart when removed from the pot.
PREVIOUS TEST - Intro:
youtu.be/K7Ekhc28qu8
PREVIOUS TEST - Results:
youtu.be/Id0Cep_9nRI
As noted in the previous test, not all vermi-compost is made the same. This applies to conventional compost as well. So do some small scale testing ahead of time to see what works best with your batch and with your plant types.
I grew "Black Seeded Simpson" leaf lettuce from seed.
Botanical Interests sells this variety: shrsl.com/?~bo18
#AlboPepper #GardenExperiments #PottingMix #OrganicGardening #SustainableLife #CompostRocks
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SUPPORT:
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W E B ➝ albopepper.com
F B ➝ facebook.com/albopepper
I G ➝ instagram.com/albopepper
T E E S ➝ shop.spreadshirt.com/albopepper
•••••••••••••••••••••
This experiment was even more exciting than my earlier one. Not only was I testing worm castings again, but also compost. And to top it all off, I even tried my old bag of Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix.
I was looking for a self renewing mix of components for growing seedlings. And I'm happy to say: I found not one but TWO options! Both worm castings and sifted compost yielded acceptable results. In the batches that I was working with, I found that young seedlings had no troubles germinating. So my particular ingredients must not have be too salt-laden (which would have hindered germination due to osmotic stress).
However, the compost and vermi-compost were by no means weak. They contained enough nutrients and fertility to carry my lettuce well beyond the seedling stage. The nicely matured plants showed no signs of deficiency at harvest time. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of my Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix. It showed promise for the 1st two weeks, but then the plant soon halted and eventually declined.
If you read the packaging, I suppose this should come as no surprise. Miracle Gro recommends feeding your plant with their liquid plant feed. So right from the beginning, you can expect to find yourself on a supplementation treadmill. -Something to keep in mind when evaluating this potting mix product.
An extra insight I gained from this experiment deals with the idea of soil sterilization. I took no steps to heat-treat or pasteurize my seed starting mixes. But the presence of living microbes did not cause any problems for my lettuce seedlings. There were no "damping off" issues. In fact, the compost & vermi-compost plants were much healthier than the MG plant.
For more info about how to prevent damping off:
albopepper.com/soil-sterilization.php
Read more: Vermi-composting
► link.albopepper.com/worms
Read more: Composting:
► link.albopepper.com/compost
FINAL THOUGHTS: I intend to use both worm castings and compost in my seed starting mixes, when available. A 50/50 ratio gave the best results in this test. The 100% compost worked ok, but the mix was loose and fell apart when removed from the pot.
PREVIOUS TEST - Intro:
youtu.be/K7Ekhc28qu8
PREVIOUS TEST - Results:
youtu.be/Id0Cep_9nRI
As noted in the previous test, not all vermi-compost is made the same. This applies to conventional compost as well. So do some small scale testing ahead of time to see what works best with your batch and with your plant types.
I grew "Black Seeded Simpson" leaf lettuce from seed.
Botanical Interests sells this variety: shrsl.com/?~bo18
#AlboPepper #GardenExperiments #PottingMix #OrganicGardening #SustainableLife #CompostRocks
•••••••••••••••••••••
SUPPORT:
•••••••••••••••••••••
W E B ➝ albopepper.com
F B ➝ facebook.com/albopepper
I G ➝ instagram.com/albopepper
T E E S ➝ shop.spreadshirt.com/albopepper
•••••••••••••••••••••
