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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Seed starting mix

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  • From: "Wiediger, Alison" <awiediger AT HART.k12.ky.us>
  • To: "'market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Seed starting mix
  • Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 14:14:33 -0600

We used a commercial organic mix last year and were less than pleased. We
are used to a bark-based commercial mix and the organic mix we got last year
was way to heavy in peat. It got wet, didn't drain well, fostered a large
population of fungus gnats, and generally failed to produce nice
transplants. When you tried to manage it by watering less, it dried out and
could not be re-wetted. To save our season, so we would have something to
transplant, we went back to the commercial mix we had used previously.

We will be trying the mix on a small scale again this year - side-by-side
with our normal commercial mix. Surely they will eventually get it right,
but we are not going to jeopardize our season by using it exclusively until
we are satisfied it is okay. Yet another challenge along with seed
availability to overcome if a farmer is going to certify.

Making your own sounds great, but we are in a middle place - too large (and
too strapped for time) to manufacture an appropriate amount by hand, too
small to justify equipment.

ATTRA has a great publication on the subject:
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/potmix.html

Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm








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