New Member from Newcastle, England

New Member from Newcastle, England · Ellie_firsttimer 2/8/2021, 9:01 am

Hi Everyone!

Im getting really excited to try the square foot gardening method for the first time. Ive got the books but i still have so many questions.

I started my onions, leeks and chives about 3 weeks ago. I grew them in the vermiculite, just like the book says. But now im just worried that they havent grown much. They are still in the vermiculite, is this ok? Do i need to move them to mels mix? Can i just grow them from mels mix from the start?

Any help would be great, thank you so much!

Ellie

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · **Kelejan** 2/9/2021, 8:38 am

Dear E_firstimer: $glad you\'re here$ to the Guest Book.

No wonder your onions etc. are not growing. Your are STARVING THEM. The is no nutrition in vermiculite on its own. You should have started them in the Mel's mix straight away. I think you may have misread the instructions, but I will let others more knowledgeable put you straight. I am in Canada and right now it is too early in the morning for me to make sure I am giving you the right advice. Best of luck in your knew venture, look forward to seeing your progress. Kelejan in Canada.

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · Ellie_firsttimer 2/9/2021, 10:22 am

I thought something was up! I though a while ago that it seemed odd to have them in vermiculite for so long. I reread the page about 20 times and still it didnt seem clear.

Ive moved them to mels mix straight away and hopefully they will do better.

Can you just just seeds off in mels mix? Or do you germinate in vermiculite and immediately move them to mels mix?

Thanks again for your help!

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · markqz 2/9/2021, 11:04 am

Ellie_firsttimer wrote:Hi Everyone!
I started my onions, leeks and chives about 3 weeks ago. I grew them in the vermiculite, just like the book says. But now im just worried that they havent grown much.

Are you growing your plants indoors? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong Newcastle, but the temperatures I see are near and below freezing. If you're growing them indoors, be sure they're getting enough light.

Mel's way of starting seeds helps conserve your seeds and properly populate your squares. I use it for most of my plants because:

I'm cheap
Baby plants have a low survival rate here.

But I'm not sure that Mel was thinking about onions when he wrote about seedlings. You might look at this recent post by OhioGardener on starting onions and leeks.

Have fun!

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · **sanderson** 2/11/2021, 3:37 am

Hi Ellie, Vermiculite is great for germinating seeds, but the sprouts do need to be transplanted into Mel's Mix or other seedling medium that has nutrients. I plant seeds directly in 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" cups filled with Mel's Mix because I don't want to have to transplant before putting them out in the garden. (Lazy)

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · JohnKelly 2/13/2021, 5:58 am

Hi Ellie from Newcastle, England, I used to live in Newcastle, Australia.

Welcome to the forum.

My SquareFoot Garden at the moment consists of Spring Onions, Chives, Basil, Tomatoes and a few Spuds.

I had some strawberries but the dog ate them.

Outside of the SquareFoot Garden I have a lemon tree and a few fruit trees, other than that, the rest of the garden is left to native bush.

New Member from Newcastle, England Dandenongs1

New Member from Newcastle, England Dandenongs1

Cheers for now.

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · **AtlantaMarie** 2/14/2021, 7:42 am

Hi Ellie. Welcome from Atlanta, GA (SE USA). Glad you're here.

I start mine directly into Mel's Mix. It's just easier that way for me....

Re: New Member from Newcastle, England · Sponsored content


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.