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Shows dark commercial seed-starting potting mix, with a pile of sand about to be combined with it.

Seed Starting Mix Tip


One of the first things I prepare each year is a seed starting mix to fill my liners.  Most of the local seed starting mixes I find are very heavy in organic ingredients such as peat and coir, as well as non-organics such as small perlite or vermiculite to improve the soil texture.  I find these mixtures to be too light and for several years I had problems with stuck seed husks.  By adding a mixture of sand, #2 or there abouts, to the blend, I have found that I have enjoyed a great reduction of stuck seed husks.  Adding a layer of 1/8” deep sand to the top will also achieve this effect.  However, I prefer the addition of a mineral soil element to the mixture so that bottom watering and anionic soil moisture retention is improved as well.
 

Bob Fukushima says:  "I have worked with plants my entire life, having grown up in an agricultural family that grew everything from radishes to Ficus retusa, my life has been around plants and the concerns of growing.  We also grew up with a vegetable and fruit garden that provided much of our food, along with something to do every Saturday morning as a child, picking beans or peas, watering and caring for plants or throwing unripe peaches at my siblings."  Bob runs Fukushima Landscape Architecture
www.fla-landarch.com
Website and Design Copyright 2010 Charles Paradise  Photo and Text Copyright 2010 Bob Fukushima
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