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Message: [QUOTE="Chuck, post: 211678, member: 944"] One can germinate seeds on or in just about anything including damp concrete. The secret to healthy seedlings is where the soil mix comes into play. It should be light and easily oxygenated. It should retain moisture and it should have adequate NPK, not very much, just a little. Macro-nutrients during the seedling stage is also very important and where most gardeners seem to disregard their importance. I think the actual base of a soil mix for vegetables or probably any plant, should be the soil it will be transplanted into at some later date. If it cannot live in this soil mix how will it grow after it is transplanted? Added to this garden soil should be something light and airy, something loose that retains water AND oxygen. Two things come to mind, Perlite and Coconut Coir. Either/ both of these do a great job of their intended purpose. The base of the mix, garden soil, already has plenty of nutrients for seedling growth and probably macro-nutrients as well, but in my seedling mix I always add more. I use Greensand but seaweed or kelp is probably just as good. You don't need much as these are very young tender plants. So far I have garden soil, Perlite, Coir and Greensand. Next, and IMO comes the least important of all, compost. I cannot make enough compost, not even close, so I do the next best thing. I go rake it and shovel it up from the forest floor. It is better known as leaf mold. Most of you cannot do this so you are stuck buying a bag. A very important part of using any compost for seedlings is to get the texture right. I just screen mine through 1/2" wire mesh. Next, another extremely important product should be lightly sprinkled on top of the soil at seed planting to prevent damping off. This product is Horticultural cornmeal, aka Stone Ground Cornmeal or Whole Ground Cornmeal at the grocery store. NOT enriched cornmeal. I haven't had a case of damping off in many years. This about takes care of seed germination and plant growth through the second true leaf stage. The only thing of concern that is left out are the ratios of Garden Soil, Coir, Greensand and Compost. Impossible to say because everyones soil is different. There probably isn't a perfect ratio but the entire object of this thread is to grow the biggest healthiest transplants the world has ever seen isn't it? So just use common sense to tell you how much of each to use. [/QUOTE]

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