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  • From: Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>
  • To: nafex@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] Seedstarting Mixes
  • Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2001 20:16:25 -0500

I plan to start a lot of plants from seeds this year (mostly flowers,
but also some tomatoes, and who knows what else) and plan to use some
mycorrhizal fungi. How is it best to apply? Should I put it on the
seeds (or the seeds in it)? Sprinkle some on the soil before pressing
the seed in or mix some into the soil on the theory the roots will grow
into the spores? Mix with water and pour on?

I know this isn't a fruit question, but is it even worth bothering with
the flower seeds, some of which are extremely small (pansy, petunia) or
should I just save it for the tomatoes and the new shrubs?

Also, are there any shrubs I shouldn't put it on? The last brand I
bought suggested it not be used on blueberries. This time I ordered
from the site bio-organics pointed me towards, since they'd been
recommended on this group, and the other stuff didn't seem to do much
one way or the other. I'm repotting a Myers lemon, and expect some
blueberries and a currant bush in the mail.

(Bio-organic's web-site is down. I hope it's temporary.)

Ginda

Don Yellman wrote:
>
> 1. Over the years, I have tried a number of the "soilless" seed
> starting mixes. One of those years it was a big bale of Pro-Mix.
> 2. I observed that the Pro-Mix looked almost exactly like spaghnum peat
> moss, with traces of vermiculite and perlite thrown in. That got me to
> thinking: Why couldn't I just buy a bale of spaghnum at less than 1/3
> the price, and throw in my own vermiculite and perlite? (Wetting
> agents? What's that, gypsum?) That's what I do now, mixing it up in a
> big plastic can.
> 3. I know that one of the advertised advantages of the expensive mixes
> is that they are "sterilized", and free of the pathogens that cause
> damping off and etc.. But there are other ways to deal with damping
> off, including heating the mix in the oven, or using the Tom Olenio
> method of aiming a small circulating fan at the emerging plants. That
> fan business makes a lot of sense to me, and I am going to try it this
> spring. I anticipate it will produce sturdier, stockier plants in the
> bargain.
> 4. It it's mycorrhizal fungi that are of interest, throwing in a little
> handful from bio-organics or one of the other fungal purveyors would fix
> that. I don't think I would pay $32, either Canadian or U.S. dollars,
> for a product which, it is plain to see, is about 99.9% or so Candian
> spaghnum peat moss, which, BTW, is a wonderful soil amendment if there
> ever was one.
>
> Best Rgds and Apologies to the Mixmakers, Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
>

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