You might also see amendments in the mix, such as limestone or gypsum, to adjust the pH.Doing so enables water to be absorbed from the bottom of the containers and reduces the chance of seeds rotting from too much moisture. A best practice is to water seed starting containers from the bottom by adding water to the tray in which the containers are sitting. You can be successful without a wetting agent but make sure the mix is well moistened before placing it into pots or cell packs and don't let the soil dry out. Certified organic wetting agents might not be possible, perhaps because by nature, a soil wetting agent can’t be quickly bio-degradable or they’d be useless. Wetting agents are polymers added to the soil to greatly improve their water-absorbing ability. That’s understandable if you’ve ever worked with straight peat moss. Wetting agents are becoming increasingly popular.By the time the seedlings have grown true leaves and require supplemental food, the fertilizer in the mix has begun to dissipate. Seeds don’t require fertilizer to germinate, so the fertilizer is being wasted if you are using it for seed starting.The Spruce / Phoebe Cheong Fertilizer and Trace Elements in Soilless Mixes Purchase vermiculite in a local garden center or in the garden section of home improvement stores. This grade vermiculite is not suitable for potting mixes because it does not absorb water easily.
You might see vermiculite for sale at home improvement stores to use in insulation or plaster. When seeds are covered with soil, there is the potential for a hard crust to form if the soil dries out. You can also use vermiculite to cover recently-sown seeds to keep the seeds moist enough to germinate.
The particles soak up water and nutrients and hold them in the mix until the plants are ready to access them. It’s a silicate material that has been heated and expanded to increase its water holding capacity.
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