5 Best Homemade Seed Starting Mix Recipes

5 Best Homemade Seed Starting Mix Recipes

Why splurge money when you can make your own seed mix easily? Check out these 5 Best Homemade Seed Starting Mix Recipes below.

There are seed starting mix recipes with peat or with coconut coir. One suggests to sterilize the soil for 30 minutes at 120 ° C in the oven, another at 180 ° C and a third option is to put soil in 800 watts for 10 minutes in the microwave.

In any case, there are a three basic fundamental things to note for before moving further:

Seed starting mix must be sterilized. It must be low in nutrients and its texture must be light and permeable.

Ingredients for Homemade Seed Starting Mix Recipes

The main ingredients of our seed starting mix are mostly peat moss or coco peat and vermiculite or perlite.

1. Peat moss or Coco Peat

Peat Moss

Peat improves aeration and can save a lot of water. It is acidic and contains less or no nutrients and if you’re using peat, *add 1/4 tablespoon lime per gallon in the mix to balance the pH.

The biggest downside of using peat is it can only be obtained by destroying the remaining Mires. There are peat-free alternatives like coco peat you must opt for.

Coco peat

Best and better alternative of peat moss is coco peat. Coconut fibers are offered in lightweight blocks that swell to become large when water is added. The Benefit of using coco peat over peat moss is that its production doesn’t harm the environment. It also has macro-nutrients and potassium and it is neutral, unlike peat, which is acidic.

Alternatives

Leaf Mold

Leaf mold is a kind of a lazy man’s compost. It is an outcome of the natural rotting process of leaves. You can use leaf mold to sow seeds. Here’s an interesting on The Guardian for you to read.

Pine Bark humus

Bark humus produced from the composting of the bark. The bark originates mostly from conifers. These crusts must be composted for a long period of time. The result is perfect for growing plants: Water permeable and stable structure. The small roots can grow unhindered.

Composted Wood fiber

Wood fibers have similar favorable properties as coir. They are also low in nutrients. The material must, of course, do not come from treated wood waste.

Cat Litter

Cat litter is a good ingredient for plants that require very few nutrients. For example, cacti. With a nutrient-free mixture of perlite or pumice and cat litter, you give seedlings the best ground for rooting.

Important: Use non-clumping, mineral-based cat litter.

2. Perlite or Vermiculite

Perlite

Perlite is a volcanic mineral. It doesn’t absorb water or other nutrients, thus improved drainage. It also has insulating properties that help the plant roots during fluctuation in temperature. *You can also use pumice instead of perlite.

Vermiculite

Vermiculite is light, but unlike perlite, it retains water and nutrients and release that when needed. It also helps in drainage.

Alternatives

Sand

You can use sand if you don’t have perlite or vermiculite. Sand is always there as a part in soil. It is important for a stable soil structure and drainage. Sand does not contain any nutrients.

3. Compost

Compost is used in a few of the seed starting mix recipes given below. If you’re using compost make sure it is fine. You can also use manure instead of it.

5 Homemade Seed Starting Mix Recipes

Make seed starting mix depending on the seeds you’re sowing and their nutrient requirements.

We divided these recipes into three types: Recipe 1, for high energy requirements seeds. Recipe 2 and 3, for medium and low energy requirement seeds.

High requirement seeds are those that require more energy to germinate. Many annual flowers and vegetables, such as potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, sunflower and geraniums.

Average requirement seeds are the ones that need less energy for germination. This includes Allium, pumpkin, cucumber, snapdragons, dahlias and gloxinias.

Low requirement seeds are those that require less or no nutrients for germination. They are most of the herbs, lettuce, azaleas, begonias, petunias and pansies and most of the plants belong to Crassulaceae family and palm species

Two Basic Seed Starting Mix Recipe

These two basic seed starting mix recipes are easiest, most popular and perfect.

1. The easiest seed starting mix recipe is to add 1/2 part of perlite, vermiculite or sand and 1/2 part of peat moss or coco peat.

2. Mix 1/3 part coco peat or peat moss, 1/3 part compost and 1/3 part of vermiculite or perlite or sand. In such a mix sow seeds that require more energy to grow.

Recipe 1 (High Requirement)

Peat or Peat alternatives 40%

Compost 30%

Garden soil, sand and bark humus 30%

Recipe 2 (Average Requirement)

Peat moss, coco peat or wood fiber 55%

Compost 20%

Sand 15%

Bark humus 10%

Recipe 3 (Low Requirement)

Peat or Peat alternative 50%

Perlite or Perlite alternative 45%

Bark humus 5%

Sterilization

Mix the proportion well before sterilization and make it evenly moist (especially when you are using peat moss). This happens best when the soil is kept in a discarded oven (45 minutes at 150 ° C) or in a microwave oven (10 minutes at 800 watts). This will make your soil disease free.

Caveat: Dried peat moss is flammable.