[Market-farming] tomato seedlings--soilless mix or potting soil?

Road's End Farm organic87 at frontiernet.net
Wed Mar 31 14:58:03 EDT 2010


On Mar 31, 2010, at 1:48 PM, waldenfarm wrote:

> I know everyone says to use a sterile mix or you'll get diseased  
> plants, but
> it just ain't so.


Seconding this. I use a compost based mix (McEnroe's, I have also used  
others'); I reuse plastic containers, rinse them out between uses but  
make no attempt to sterilize them. I have never had a disease problem  
in the transplant flats with tomatoes or anything else, except  
possibly for once many years ago with lettuce; but I suspect that the  
problem in that case was not actually disease but insufficient  
lighting and too much water.

I suspect that if you start with a sterile soilless mix it may indeed  
be necessary to sterilize the containers etc.; I think the sterile  
soilless mixes don't have any beneficials to fight off the pathoges  
with.




-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale






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