Gardeners who start from seeds, do you use seed starting mix or go straight to potting mix?
2026-04-21 14:00 UTC
Replies (8)
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@The_v@lemmy.world 2026-04-21 14:53
Sorry you about made me spit out my coffee. Beans, zinnas and sunflowers are some of the less picky species for substrate. Both sunflowers and beens have large seeds and enough stored energy to supply the plant to the second true leaf. Zinnia's have extremely durable and high germinating seeds. For testing seedling mixes they are a poor choice. Mainly because they will do well in most things. There is no "correct" seedling mix for everything. Every species has its own optimal growth medium based upon its unique needs. What works well for tomatoes is too fine for squash. What works for cantaloupes holds too much water for watermelons. Then there is the whole slow germinating flower seeds. That's a mess of different preferences.
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@SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 2026-04-21 14:10
I use starter cubes, or when I use soil (like up potting) I just use my own soil from my garden, and give it a feed if the plants say they need it. This year I just used the only soil that was available at the store. The grounds still frozen haha, I can use it for other starts if I do them. Just my early starts are done, being peppers and tomatoes. 
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@Kaffeburk@lemmy.world 2026-04-21 17:26
To my understanding, high nutrient soils can burn baby seedlings. This is especially true for blends of peat moss with artificial fertiliser but also uncomposted/poorly composted manures. I usually go for last years, ie depleted, soil. For small seeds i just pulverise it with my hands for the top centimeter. This year I used soil made of composted manure mixed with sand/fine gravel, crushed terracotta, charcoal and woodpulp i took from some decomposing tree in the forest. Tomatoes, kale, cauliflower, oregano, sunflower, paprika and chili all took off no problem. No signs of life from my cucumbers and artichoke, tho I think at least the cucumber got eaten by mycelium that spread from the composted manure.
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@evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 2026-04-21 16:00
Smaller seeds generally need finer soil. You can screen potting mix to get rid of bigger chunks. You can also mix in stuff like vermiculite, rice hulls, or perlite to lighten it up, too. Like others noted, big seeds are going to be forgiving, but something small that needs to be on the surface and get exposed to light will be a bit trickier.
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@LordMayor@piefed.social 2026-04-21 15:31
I’m no expert, mind you. This year I did a coir/vermiculite/perlite blend for starting tomatoes. They sprouted fine but stalled—no true leaves for a couple weeks. After adding some fertilizer tea they’re growing again. Still not sure if they’re worth keeping but I’ll give them a shot. Next time, I’ll try the starting blend with some soil added in. They just don’t get enough nutrition from just the starting mix.
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@frongt@lemmy.zip 2026-04-21 16:54
Straight potting soil holds way too much water in my experience. I usually mix some other stuff in, including perlite, so that it acts more like soil and less like mud.
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@Irisfreundin@troet.cafe 2026-04-21 14:35
[@yo\_scottie\_oh](https://lemmy.ml/u/yo_scottie_oh) For flowers, tomatoes and Cucumbers/Peppers/chilis . . . I use cocos with neem as coins or soaked discs. For beans and peas I take soil from the beds, these are not necessarily started in pots, this is only because mice and doves eat the seed from the beds.
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@DLS@lemmy.world 2026-04-21 19:33
Honestly have only tried seed starter mix but have seen people on YouTube have success with screening potting mixes and using that. Probably just depends on the potting mix composition though.