Seed-Starting Secrets of a Greenhouse Professional

Reader Contribution by David Baldwin and The Natural Gardening Company
Published on March 18, 2014
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by Adobestock/CemSelvi

We began producing certified organic vegetable transplants 23 years ago at The Natural Gardening Company with very little experience under our belt. Since the early days we have produced well over a half million seedlings, learning by trial and error. I have no doubt there is more to learn, but this blog will provide you with a summary of our seed starting technique. Where we learned from mistakes, you can have the benefit of our two+ decades of experience.

Soil Mixing

We’ve fiddled around with our seed starting mix over the years. In the beginning we used a classic formulation: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 organic material (usually compost or aged steer manure). These are readily available materials and they work well, with one shortcoming. When seeds using this formula are planted in plug trays and placed in a sunny location, direct sunlight and high heat can cause mold to grow on the surface. This mold eventually becomes a crust. This crusty layer impedes the penetration of water from above and suppresses the upward development of the seed from below. The crust does not completely inhibit the development of seeds in the tray, but it greatly reduces the rate of germination.

By chance, there was a shortage in the perlite supply one season. This forced us to turn to alternative materials. We chose vermiculite, and what a difference it has made. Vermiculite absorbs moisture and keeps the soil materials evenly damp so no crust forms, even under hot, sunny conditions. This moisture retaining property also enhances seed germination, as the most common cause of failure when starting seeds is desiccation – drying out.

Then we simplified our formula further, eliminating the organic material. Seeds carry a layer of starch in the cotyledon and can nourish themselves in the first phase of development. We were already fertilizing our seeds after they germinated with a liquid fertilizer, a combination of fish and kelp, so we stopped using the compost/manure. This left us with a simple, light, easy-to-mix soil formula of equal parts peat moss and vermiculite.

Propagation Trays

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