I’ve watched dozens of videos and all I needed to know was how to make transplanting soil for my seedlings. This was the only video I found. It’s fantastic. Thank you so much.
Stab holes in the bottom of the perlite bag and rinse it down to wash out the dust. Everybody should still wear a mask, $1 to protect the lungs is well worth it. Cheers, nice video!
Loving your videos. You're so good at teaching. You make it easy to understand and this brought back my passion for gardening! Nonetheless on Earth Day! Thank you!!!
This is my first year gardening without my dad.. I think he would make his own soil so I’m on here looking up everything about gardening since I just started falling in love with it last year my dad was teaching me so much but I still don’t know many things… this is the exact same bag of peat moss and vermiculite that he has. I’m glad I can put it to use thank you for such an informative video I really appreciate it.
Sorry for your loss. Your dad is watching and smiling. Wish you much enjoyment and remember there will be challenges but the internet is such a wonderful resource and no one better than GS
I know the feeling losing a parent my dad past in 08 and mom last year both do to dementia. They always had a backyard garden. So when my wife and I moved into mom's to care for her, I started to learn gardening, put together a garden letting mom think it was hers. I did it for her for therapy, mom loved it. Good luck with your garden....
I am exactly where you are. I lost my 49 year old brother to glioblastoma a year ago and just lost my dad in September. My dad was an awesome gardener and like your dad, my dad taught me so much but yet I’m still not doing well yet. Also like you I’ve been watching everything I can to continue on his passion. ( my new passion)
@@doncook3584I fond myself looking to the sky and asking mom, dad & grandpa Jones what do you think of this gardening technique? I'm using gravity feed drip irrigation and outdoors NFT hydroponics. Grandpa was a share cropper from S. GA. He lived on a womens property outside of Arcadia, FL. Little town name Nocatee cared for cows and grew a big garden across hwy 17 up next to the train tracks. Thinking about now wonder how grandpa watered that garden. Anyway happy gardening folks.
I’m going to try this seed starting mix for my microgreens that I eat every day. It should be perfect in combination with some nutrient water on the bottom tray to encourage growth. I tried peat, compost, and vermiculite but had mold with every tray so I think this will be better.
Thanks. For long-term use in a pot a little lime can help. I use these mixes as temporary media before planting outside and I'm not that concerned about a slightly low pH.
Finally!!! We’ve been looking for information that is more geared for our location. We are in southern Colorado (5b) and your entire channel is so relevant!!! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to start binge watching videos!
Thanks! For containers and planter beds I add some native soil to incorporate beneficial bacteria and I add fertilizer early in the season because the nutrients can deplete faster than in open garden beds.
This is possibly the most important and educational video every gardener can benefit from. Knowing your “soils” at different stages of indoor growing is absolutely essential if you want success. Trust me I have learned many lessons of what not to do… thank you Scott!
Most of my mixes are about 65-70% water retentive components (peat, coir, etc) and 30-35% fast draining / aerating (perlite). Depending on what the plants like, you can modify your mix slightly and keep the plants happy. Blueberries get a ton of peat, less coir. Plants that tend to hate wet feet get a little more perlite. I've found that some plants (figs) like coarser / grittier mixes and I'll use #4 perlite and some other components that have larger particles. I'll usually add micronutrients (i.e. azomite) and adjust pH if the plants are going to be permanently potted. I'll feed plants separately, usually top dressing slower release organic fertilizers or in the water with a soluble mix. I'm curious to try rice hulls in a mix to see how they perform. I might consider putting them in raised beds for more aeration. Perlite seems to like to float to the surface.
Some old timers including my dad stated garden/pasture soil should contain all the nutrients and minerals that crops need. That makes healthy vegetables that make healthy people. Right?
@GardenerScott If I like to add slow release fertilizer like Osmocote to the tops of my containers, do you think I can skip the addition of the bone meal, etc.? Thanks, and I love your channel.
Thanks so much. I just tried making your mix this past weekend. I live in a warm climate so I decided to do 3 parts peat moss, 3 parts compost, 1.5 parts perlite, and .5 parts vermiculite. It feels a little gritty? Perhaps from the vermiculite, which was very small in texture. I'm excited see how it works. :)
@@makeoversbymeme2077 I've actually gone to his updated potting mix recipe, which is 2 parts compost, 2 parts peat moss, 1 part vermiculite, and a splash of perlite mostly to see how well you are mixing. I like that mix much better and will keep using that ratio! I scale it up to 3 parts compost, 3 parts peat moss, nearly 1.5 parts vermiculite, and a splash of perlite. Then I add in some earthworm castings, organic slow-release fertilizer, and kelp meal.
Thanks, Richard. For a mix with a lot of peat, lime can be added to raise the pH. It doesn't take much. But the soil in my area tends to be slightly alkaline so adding a slightly acidic soil mix doesn't require adding lime.
Thank you Gardener Scott for making my life easier. I was looking for an alternative way to make potting soil/mix for my pots. Would you please suggest me couple of things? 1. What kind of compost can I buy from Lowe’s/Home Depot? 2. What sort of additional ingredients should I mix to make the potting mix more acidic for my lemon or acid loving plants? I appreciate your help. Thanks.
Prices depend on markets For me (in south africa) it is both easyer and cheaper to source coir than peatmoss for bulk soils (im looking at making atleas 1000litres of soil) Ill do something basic like perlite coir compost bonemeal and guano(bird)
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! I have watched other seed starting mix videos and I have chosen yours to follow. I am an experienced gardener that hasn't had a garden in several years and I'm starting up the fall garden soon. The simplest of ingredients for both the seed starter and the transplant soil makes sense. Less hassle along with saving money is exactly what I need.
I tried this recipe, but my plants seemed had poor root growth. I used the same peat moss brand as you. Do you think the soil was too acidic & that's what hampered my seedlings or was something else wrong with my soil? My corn and melon seedlings seemed to not mind much, but all my tomato and pepper varieties struggled quite a bit Edit -Grammer
Thanks for the great information. I have always used peat and will continue based on your analysis. Coir was recommended but I did the research prior to jumping in. Again Thanks
Just gave this mix a try and love how fluffy and well draining it is. I read in other comments that this is just meant to be a medium before transplanting outside. I was wondering if I could actually use this as potting mix for my small raised beds and pots. Seems like it has all the right ingredients for use as regular raised garden soil. If I'm able to, and transplant all.the indoor veggies to the raised beds, how often do I need to add other fertilizers to feed the plants during the summer?
You can use it as a mix for pots, but you'll need to fertilize the plants on a regular basis. Plants typically benefit from fertilizer when actively growing in late spring or early summer and again before harvest. That lessens when the soil health improves.
I love and enjoy watching your videos find them very helpful. But one adjustment. Coconut coir is much cheaper then peat moss but even worse is peat moss is becoming an extinct item due to our over use and environment. So to save the plant more and to be even more organic I say coconut coir all day long Thank you gardener Scott
There are millions of acres of Peat boggs I don't know where everyone keeps coming up with this misinformation! Coir is way more expensive than peat moss and doesn't work near as good.
Greetings from Panama Hi Mr Scoot By mistake I bought a bag of perlite, but instead of coarse I bought a very fine perlite. It looks like sand. So my question is if I can use this very fine perlite instead of the coarse perlite you use and if your answer is yes in what proportion following your recipe. Thanks
I’m so ready to start my small garden. All I have is a back porch hopefully it works out. Thank you for this information, I’ve watch plenty of gardeners and yours is by for the best informative video.
How did you get pleat moss without sticks or bits of wood? I get the exact same brand and need to break it up and sift to remove all the trash so as to use for seed starter.
I use perlite in my raised beds it stops them from being soggy from heavy rains. Local seed company carries those large bags for $15 to $17 a bag. The bottom of the beds I use straw cardboard and chunks of wood in the bottom of my beds. I sprinkle perlite though that to aid in aeration. Then I use a blend peat, a cheap potting soil, compost, perlite with a cheap bagged topsoil as well. Lime the peat to adjust the PH. Fertilize to the crop I am growing. I won't call it cheap to fill a large bed like that but I am very happy with the results. Believe it or not I made a 4x6 outside measurement raised bed from 6 inch concrete blocks. One block high. Filled it with my mix and filled the large holes in the blocks with my mix as well. Planted the center with blue lake beans and the holes I had some spare bell pepper plants that were past due to be planted I thought what the heck. I planted the peppers in the block holes. I harvested 2 five gallon buckets of beans this summer. Bell Peppers several buckets of those lost count and still picking. Now I have broccoli in place of the beans and it's growing daily. Now I do have 1/4 inch drip tube with 6 inch spacing on a timer watering all my raised beds. The 6 inch spacing tube you can line up with a dripper over every hole in the blocks. I used sod staples to line up the tube temporally. Then I used a glob of landscape adhesive to set it permanently.
The business park I have a small shop in has graciously allowed me to plant some basics in two 3'x11' patches. (I may take over a 4'x7' soon though.) The soil is soft when wet but hardens to concrete when dried in the sun and a quick ph test is showing 7.5+ somewhere. So the mung beans, which I WONT be eating, are really stimpy vs. a batch I've grown in pots at home. This video gives me hope that I can get some better results soon. Onto the next GS video. . . .
Scott, I just started gardening. I'm wondering why you don't have soil in your recipe to make potting mix? Is potting mix just for temporary container after transplant from seed? Can I use your potting mix recipe to filled up entire raised bed/container/ground bed?
Yes, the potting soil is a temporary medium before transplanting outside. You can use a mix like this in a container, but it will need fertilizer as plants grow. In raised or in-ground beds, native soil should be a component of the mix.
It's odd that in the UK perlite and vermiculite are only stocked in very small bags at garden centres you can however buy 10 tines as much for the same price online. We have also just banned peat usage in compost...but I think we have the same carbon footprint from importing highly processed (read washed) from coconut growing countries
Hi Scott! Thank you for your recip! It looks great and I'm using it in Italy 🙂 I have two questions. You use 3 part of peat moss, 3 part of compost and 2 part of perlite. Can I use 3 part of vermicompost instead of traditional compost? What is approximately the final PH that you abtain with this soil recip? Many thanks!
Yes, vermicompost can be used, but the texture will be different and you may find you can use less. Peat tends to be acidic but the compost buffers the pH. The mix tends to be close to 6.0-6.5.
I really appreciate this! I have been learning so much about gardening these last two years and was in complete shock when my germinated seeds would just die when I put them in what the garden center called "potting soil". Low and behold, I need to make something else for these younglings!
I added organic compost to my peat moss and vermiculite for my seed starting mix. Is it not going to work as well? Also can I add the blood meal and bone meal into the mix for seed starter?
You don't need compost, blood meal or bone meal in seed starter mix. By adding them you can make the mix too dense and too high in nutrients for the germinating seed.
1:26 thanks for the tip on the Perlite, I went to my local agriculture store, and low and behold they had a giant bag shown with duck tape on the top, I said how much? 13 bucks, so I bought that and some good Peat Moss.
You can use it right away, as long as it is moist. I usually let it sit for a few hours so that the peat can absorb as much water as possible. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
How refreshing to find a channel that is simple, easy to learn and doesn't waste time with unnecessary jibber jabber for us first time gardeners! Thank you!!!! You are my new fav channel.
Is it possible to use multi mix compost that has 40% peat in it and add the vermiculite and perlite in a ratio of 70 to 30 with the 70% being multi mix compost and 30% pearlite and vermiculite
I will use old potting soil(no diseases) and sift it through a 1/8" metal screen sifter. I take this finely sifted peat/coir and add in azomite, perlite/vermiculite and my own worm castings. I do sterilize the peat/coir in the oven(because I hate gnats and their soon-to-be offspring!😁). Azomite adds in additional minerals...and worm castings add back in the beneficial bacteria/fungi... that was lost in the sterilization process. Great video! Clear, concise, mellow and straight to the point!👏
I like this mix...and I already have the peat moss and perlite. Great to know that is all I need. I have coir as well...I may try both and see if there is a difference in the seeds sprouting or growth.
I bought Mother Earth Terracraft potting soil and has peat moss ,processed forest products, perlite, fertilizer and yucca-shows total nitrogen o.19%-O.02% water soluble nitrogen and 0.17% water insoluble nitrogen, available Phosphate (P203) 0.08%, Soluble Potash (K2)-0.11%, Derives from earth worm castings, feathermeal, bat guano, kelp meal(Ascophyllum), seabird guano, fish bone meal, alfalfa meal. Will this be good or not. Got from Ace hardware
