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RE: How To: Homemade, Sustainable Seed Starting Medium (aka Potting Soil)
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am preparing for planting seeds too. What if your garden soil does not look as fantastic as yours does and might not hold as much nutrition anymore as it's last years veg garden soil? Would that be a problem for the mix?
Hi @clara-andriessen, thank you for your comment! Your question is really good! I think every gardener may give you a different answer and the more perspective you get the better! My thoughts are that soil building is a long term process. I most likely not be concerned about using soil to start seeds if it hasn't been amended in a season. My main concern would be working on the garden soil to build up the fertility for the future, every year, every season or more often if possible... I like to think of soil fertility in investing in future years more than looking at adding fertility for this season. So every time I add organic matter to the garden it's investing in the future health of the soil. That can be in the form of leaf and/or straw mulch, compost, manure, food scraps, coffee grounds, etc. The more diversity of materials the better, and the more material the better. I like to put more in than I take out, in a new garden especially.
Going back to your question .. no I don't think it would be a problem for making your own soil mix with a few caveats:
If you have any reason to believe your soil has disease or pests in it (you know your plants in that area of soil have diseases or suffer from pest infestations), take more care in judgement if it should be used or not.
If the soil is so deplete of life or organic matter that things don't grow well at all yet, then you would definitely need to mix a rich compost in with that soil to cover the nutrition for the seedlings.
I have in the past used only soil for seedling propagation without mixing anything. It's quick, easy and gets the job done. Depending on the soil the results will vary. But my philosophy was if seeds can grow in the ground why not bring the ground to my seedling trays? It works! But it is also likely to have too much moisture with a soil that is not sandy. Too much moisture can make fungus or damping off a problem which you have to stay on top of with an antifungal spray and not over watering the seedlings. That's where the drainage component of the soil mix is really helpful.
Ah, thanks! That was helpful. <3