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  • From: Alliums <garlicgrower AT snip.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Problems starting plants
  • Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 12:23:14 -0500


Martin wrote:
>
>Last year I had a number of flats that germinated spotty or unusually
>slow or once they came up they seemed to stop growing and just sit there.

Heh, heh, -- this is what happened to me this winter when I tried to grow
plant out for the Philadelphia Flower Show. I'll bet it's inadequate bottom
heat and your potting soil. Without bottom heat, I can't get peppers to
germinate in a timely manner and even then, it can be chancy, which is why I
start all my peppers in February.

In June and early July I had some broccoli and
>chinese cabbage that came up and did nothing for a whole month until I
>finally in desperation planted the puny plants in the garden.

It's the potting soil -- it's too dense and the seedlings can't form roots.

>I
>concluded that setting the flats on a pressure treated deck had caused
>that problem.

This will do it, too -- arsenic, *bad* stuff!

>This year I still had 1/2 of the last bale of potting soil left from last
>year so I started using out of it for my first seedings in late January
>and February.

No, no, no! Don't *do* that -- that potting soil has graduated to "soil
amendment"! I trashed the rest of my horrible stuff into the community
garden in February and bought the good stuff (ProMix) to start my peppers
and leeks. No problems! :-D

>I'm planning to throw away the rest of that bale of potting mix,
>Sunshine Mix #1.

Good plan. Use ProMix -- I love the stuff! :-D

>I am aware that this type of potting mix only has enough nutrients to
>germinate plants and soon should be followed by a regular fertilization
>program.

I've found that for non-tomato seedlings, watering with a fish emulsion/kelp
(or even just the kelp) will do just fine. I germinate in a plug tray of
100% ProMix, then put in newspaper pots with 50% ProMix and 50% worm
castings. Vermiculture is *definately* the organic gardener's friend -- it
is WELL worth your while to have a worm box on site!

For tomatoes, I use the ProMix and bone meal -- I'll add worm castings once
the tomatoes I seeded have leaves as there are always lots of tomato seeds
in the worm castings and as a member of Seed Savers, I have to be sure what
tomatoes I have (I am NOT caging tomatoes for seed purity! ;-)).

Hope this helps -- my snow has melted but everything is so mucky, I'm not so
sure I should try to plant fava beans and peas this weekend . . . maybe
next. . .



Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden

A mission of
St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460





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