Market Farming

[suzyr AT netos.com (Suzy Roth)]

> What growing medium do you organic growers use to start seeds in?

I grow starts for sale, and for space concerns I start seeds in plugs 
in a sterile peat based soiless mix, then uppot into a compost based 
potting soil when the starts are large enough to handle. Having 
compost in a potting soil is wonderful because it, of course, holds 
moisture and you don't have to constantly water pots of plants 
everytime the sun shines. Just be careful not to overwater.

>    And
> what do you fertilize the young plants to help them grow before you set
> them out?
I fertilize with a mix of fish fertilizer and Maxicrop. I use 
one-fourth what the directions on the bottles of fertilizer say to 
use and water my starts once a week after they have been in their 
pots for a week. Depending on how warm your greenhouse/growing area 
is, you might want to fertilize sooner--the plants will tell you! 
Last year I experimented with dipping the flats of plants in the 
fertilizer solution after watching how Michaele Blakely fertilizes 
her starts. This worked very well for soil blocks of tomatoes I was 
holding back before potting into 4-inch pots or gallons.

Suzy Roth
Thistle Ridge Farm and Gardens
Issaquah, WA