Seed starting products ? recommend ???

I had good results last season with everything I used, however this year I'd like to go different.
I used , fine vermiculite..(did not like to transplant into containers)...., MM, did nicely also.
Miracle gro seed starter, also did nicely, had to screen it tho.
Can you recommend a good starter that you have used ?

I buy sterile seed starting mix called BM8 and sow thickly in shallow trays. When plants have true leaves I transplant the seedlings into a more fertile growing medium in larger cells or containers.

I used this:

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-455-soil-block-makers.aspx?source=W_SeedStartSupSq2_SoilBlockers_012014

with mm that I put in Zippy bags, and microwaved for approx 3 minutes to sterilize. I cooked with bag open, then closed til ready to use.
I up-potted into red solo cups til ready to transplant.

I made a mistake tho! I watered using worm tea. Too much fertilization! I had tomato and pepper plants blooming in the cups. I guess, if you were planting to grow in the house it would be fine, but, little plants that are blooming do not like to be transplanted while they are blooming. I did start them about 2 weeks earlier than was needed before last spring frost too.
Jo

Little jo
MM cooked for 3 minutes ?
Now that sounds interesting, I have fine vermiculite.
Peat moss, and 5 gallon buckets of my own compost in the shed since last summer.
I could very easily do as you suggest, save money also.
The one thing that I don't think I change is what I was using for feeding the small seedlings.
I made weak solution, of fish emulsion, and miracle gro.
Each  in separate containers, fed seedlings very lightly every 2 days, to me they did great.
Dadburnit, maybe I'll just stay with what I did last year.....

These grew nicely when in beds


These did nicely as well, however, I started them to early before planting.


Now this below was my favorite, next to kohlrabi...these are seedling that grew into below images.green moss didn't seem to affect them. Cayanetta peppers from Twilley's seeds


Added a marigold with it, eventually removed the marigold.


final plant, had to cut the tops off they were growing so tall.


Root ball after done in the fall

jimmy, I think the idea for cooking the 'seed starting soil' is to prevent damping off, supposedly kills the germ that causes this.
I really believe that any starter soil will do,  If the plants are growing good, then not much fertilizer is needed.
1 thing I learned last yr,  either blow on seedlings or brush your hand over the plants to just barely move  them, and this causes the stems to be more stout, like they were already in the ground. I did this and it really works!
Jo

Heck littlejo
I'll not only blow on them, brush them with my hand, I'll play some banjo tunes also...  

I used spent MM out of my SFG's last year and spritzed the top with hydrogen peroxide/water after planting the seeds in it.  Worked fine.  When I potted up I added fresh compost.

CC

I s the H/P for germs ?

I use the h/p to prevent damping off.   

Jimmy

This is a very nice well known product if you want to simply purchase and pour it out of the bag. I grew all my own seedlings last year using this product.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-454-soilless-growing-mixes.aspx

My favorite nursery sends plants home in these trays, rather than cardboard trays.




I use freshly made MM to start seeds in.  I saved up the 3" pots that seedlings came in, before I started growing my own.





I've never had any disease issues.  (I don't sterilize anything.)  Under my warmest lights, I use cheap fans for circulation which seems to take care of damping off.

I've decided what I will do this year,
My own mix...I have been very careful making up my compost piles all last year and up till now.
leaves, expired produce from my grocers . horse manure, cow manure, used coffee grinds, kitchen waste, and probably more I forgot.
With all of these fine ingredients in my compost as compared to whats listed in commercial mix, I believe I'll fare much better, if I don't....so be it..
This year I'll take pictures every 2 or 3 days
Amazing how I can ask a question, receive answers, then decide what to do....
you folks are so helpful.
Jimmy

Jimmy,  what's the saying?  Don't fix it if it ain't broken?

Question:  Did you trim and repot the root ball?  I have some over-wintering peppers that I would like to remove, trim, add lots of compost and repot.  Will this work?  Anybody?

No, since it was all MM I just dumped in into the compost pile.
Regarding the cayanetta seeds, they are hybrid seeds, I was going to try to save them but gave it up when I found hybrid seeds are not able to be used from the plants.
To bad, seeds are $8.00 for 25...and I like the seeds that come in packs of 200 for $1.35

jimmy cee wrote:snip...
Regarding the cayanetta seeds, they are hybrid seeds, I was going to try to save them but gave it up when I found hybrid seeds are not able to be used from the plants.
To bad, seeds are $8.00 for 25...and I like the seeds that come in packs of 200 for $1.35

Sometimes planting seeds from a hybrid is not such a bad thing.  You don't end up with the original plant, but a plant with more traits of one parent or the other.  One of my best tomato accidents was volunteers from a Lemon Boy hybrid.  It reseeded itself in my garden and the tomatoes were absolutely wonderful - so I let it reseed itself for 4 years!  Gorgeous yellow slicers with mild flavor, no cracks, and acclimated to my specific garden temps/season.  Lost it when I put in my boxes in that area.  May plant another Lemon Boy just to see if I can get it to do that again!

GG

GG
That's very interesting, maybe I'll try it