Growing Medium for Transplants

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GreenGuvnor Somerset, NJ(Zone 6b) Apr 12, 2009

The time has come for me to transplant my veggie seedlings from flats into small 4" pots. For the flats I used Miracle Gro Seedling Starter Mix. That was fine for use in flats but gets very expensive for the pots.

What does everyone use when transplanting to pots? I'm thinking of a 95/5 mix of peat moss & Perlite. Is this good, or should I mix with an amount of compost? Its hard to get the mix to stay wet. Miracle Gro has something called 'wetting agent' in their mix. What is that?

Thanks!

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David_Paul Clinton, CT(Zone 6b) Apr 12, 2009

Prices vary around the country but an Agway in the farming area of CT has Lambert compressed 3.8 cu ft bales of potting mix for $10.99--about the same as peat moss.

That over 7 cu ft when fluffed up....a lot of mix.

ProMixBX, a premium brand which has mycorrhizal fungi in it, runs about $33 a bale. I've used both and haven't noticed a difference.

Miracle Grow and other brand names in the big box stores are often higher than what you find at Agway and other vendors who deal with farmers. You might even try a local nursery which starts or repots their own stock. They might have an extra bale of potting mix in back they'll sell you.

Problem with using 95% peat moss is acidity and it tends to mat.

I use bagged compost mixed with potting mix and soil when planting out in large (10-15 gallon) grow bags but in small pots I think it would hamper root development. Drainage might be a problem too.

Not sure but I believe the wetting agent in Lambert and other potting mixes is a detergent.

I bought 3 bales of Lambert last week. That will fill 9 Earthboxes with plenty left over for seed starting and potting up this year and next.

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