Hi YouTubers!
I'm Al Gracian from Albopepper.com.
So you wanna grow seedlings.
Do you need a fancy "seed starting" mix?
Or can you just buy a standard bulk mix to save money?
How does organic stand up against synthetic?
And what about making your own?
We have tests and comparisons of multiple mixes, including DIY.
And some tips to help you along if you're just getting started.
This independent video, isn't sponsored or paid for by any company.
The products shown are simply available in my area.
Take 'em or leave 'em, it's up to you!
Amazon offered this "Seed Starting Mix" in an 8 quart bag for $5.
Not bad.
But I have a 2 cubic foot bag purchased locally for $13.
That's one third of the price per quart!
Ugh.
But it doesn't say "Seed Starting".
So... you can't use it.
Or can you???
Of course, price isn't our only concern.
What about quality?
Wouldn't it be better to get an all natural, organic mix?
Wouldn't our plants be healthier?
I mean, look at this impressive list of beneficial soil organisms.
We'll have to test one of these.
What if you're making your own?
Hmm.
Let's get some coir or coco.
We'll mix in some vermiculite and a little perlite.
Of course, we need nutrients.
Pre-blended all-purpose fertilizers are great all-in-one options.
They contain a variety of components so there's no need to buy a zillion bags of random nutrients.
Here's the list for this test.
I think we're ready guys!
We're testing Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix.
A bulk bag of Miracle Gro Moisture Control.
We have the expensive, but organic Espoma Seed Starting Mix.
A DIY organic blend, fertilized with Espoma Garden-Tone.
And just plain vermiculite.
Before planting, let's look at the physical properties of these mixes.
How easy is it to hydrate them?
I placed each mix in a cylinder.
I measured how much water was absorbed over the course of 5 minutes.
Here's a side-by-side comparison showing the amount of water absorbed.
See how some sucked up water more readily?
For this test, we have 100% artificial LED grow lights.
The Spider Farmer LEDs are my new preferred systems.
The well rounded spectrum lets you accurately observe plants as they grow.
I'm glad to be rid of those nasty blurple lights!
What to grow...
We'll do peppers, lettuce & kale.
I placed fives seeds in each pot.
How well does each potting mix work for seed germination?
Here's the time line comparing how long it took each mix to germinate by variety.
Here's the germination rate after 2 weeks.
Some seedlings were deformed but I still counted them.
What caused the slow germination in the Moisture Control?
It could be a matter of osmotic pressure.
The Miracle Gro Moisture Control mix contains more fertilizer salts.
This inhibits the seeds' ability to absorb water.
It seemed to be an issue with lettuce only.
The other seeds were fine.
To get around this, you can pre-germinate sensitive seeds, then transplant to your fertilized
mix.
Watch my previous video talking more about this little hack.
Once they sprouted I transferred them to a new pot of Moisture Control mix.
And they were able to get going.
Now for the fun part!
Let's track the growth in these mixes.
By day 14, all containers had at least 1 seedling that emerged.
Once plants overlap, they're thinned down.
The strongest seed is selected.
Already, there's a noticeable difference with some of these mixes.
The Espoma was ok at germinating, but the plants grown in that mix weren’t growing.
They were no better than the ones in vermiculite, which has no nutrients.
At day 21, I decided to try some supplementation.
The vermiculite was clearly not going to promote further plant growth.
When plants run out of steam, liquid plant foods can quickly restore depleted nutrients.
I mixed up a small container and watered the vermiculite plants only.
The others were left untouched.
We'll see what happens now that nutrients are being supplied.
Meanwhile, look at the yellowing on the oldest leaves of this Miracle Gro Seed Starting mix.
This is a clear sign of nitrogen depletion.
The plant did well, but as week four sets in, things start to change.
In contrast, the Moisture Control mix is still plugging along at full steam.
Now at day 28 we already see a dramatic improvement in the vermiculite lettuce, showing how fast
that liquid feed can work.
My homemade organic potting mix has worked amazingly well with for lettuce.
The Miracle Gro plants have had some issues although they seem to be perking up.
Switching to the kale, my homemade mix has done pretty well, outpacing the Miracle Gro
seed starting mix.
That plant just gets worse and worse at this point.
Yet the Moisture Control mix has taken the clear lead.
All the while, the peppers are just starting to get going.
And now, at day 35, it's time to pull the plug.
Here's the final shot of all of the plants.
The lettuce plants have had more than enough time to mature and we see major differences
in each potting mix.
The kale has peaked and all seedlings would need to be transplanted at this point.
Even that Moisture Control mix shows signs of depletion.
The peppers could still use a little more time.
After giving them just one extra week, here's what we have on day 42.
So which mix is best?
We'll let's look at which one is WORST.
Without a doubt, the Espoma Seed Starter mix was a huge waste of money!
It costs more per quart, took the longest to hydrate, performed so-so on germination
and then immediately fell flat on it's face.
I feel completely duped with my purchase.
Why?
Because the Amazon listing clearly stated: worm castings.
But they weren't listed on the bag I received.
Worm castings are a great source of organic nutrients that work well in a mix.
I've tested mine in the past and was quite happy.
Perhaps the Espoma mix had castings at one point, thus explaining the five star reviews.
But not anymore!
Instead they put all of their marketing behind their "Myco-tone".
But beneficial fungi are NO replacement for basic macro-nutrients.
We saw that supplemental plant feeding can perk up a seedling grown in depleted mixes.
Well Espoma instructs you on the bag, to use one of their liquid feeds.
And this simply isn't optional.
You MUST use something, increasing cost even more!
I love many Espoma products having used them for years.
But I'm not a fan-boy.
And when they cheapen a product line like this, they should have to answer for it.
I was so disgusted, I actually mailed them my invoice demanding a refund per the instructions
on the back of the bag!
What about our other seed starting mix -that Miracle Gro?
Well, I'd say it's a decent mix, overall, especially after testing that Espoma stuff.
The water absorption is average.
The germination rate was also fine.
The mix is a little light on nutrients, but that allows sensitive seeds like lettuce to
germinate.
However, after three weeks, you should plan on either fertilizing or repotting into a
richer mix.
But what about that "fast root development" claim on the bag?
Well which of these shows the most root growth?
The seed starting mix may cost you more per quart than one of those large bulk bags.
But you might not need much.
And maybe you just wanna buy something online.
This does the trick.
Can you just plant seeds in a standard potting mix though?
Well I was able to pull it off in the Miracle Gro Moisture Control mix.
The only plants with spotty germination were those lettuce seeds.
The paper towel method is a quick hack to get around that.
In this mix, once seedlings do emerge, they typically do well.
Pepper, kale, beans, corn & zucchini all grew fine in my various tests.
The plants continue to grow for a longer period of time when compared with weaker seed starter
mixes.
The major issue I observed (with both Miracle Gro potting mixes) was the lettuce.
After a few weeks, I saw browning and wilting in some of the outer leaves.
To me, it looks like pathogen damage, some form of wilt.
But I can't rule out ammonium toxicity which could result from ammonium containing nitrogen
fertilizers.
As I dug through my video archive I found similar issues years ago with an older formulation,
once again, when growing lettuce.
We need to keep in mind that these particular Miracle Gro mixes use synthetic nutrients.
They're NOT organic.
In my opinion, a healthy non-organic seedling is much better than a weak, stunted "organic"
one.
That said, there's no reason to compromise if you don't want to.
There are other organic mixes out there that could work better than this Espoma mix.
But hey, you could just make your own!
I love using worm castings in my mixes.
Or even a simple organic fertilizer can do the trick as we saw in this test.
My homemade potting mix was the easiest to hydrate.
It had the best germination rates.
The plants were able to grow well as the weeks progressed.
They seemed to catch up to and even surpass the Miracle Gro ones.
In fact, that lettuce was absolutely amazing compared to the others!
I hope this test has given you some insights into your seed starting options.
And if you identify germination or growth issues you now know some tips to help out!
Thanks for taking time to watch.
I appreciate your support on my channel.
Please subscribe if you haven't already.
And as always, Happy Gardening!