Talking Green: Starting at the beginning. Part 2

Hello again,
Once you have your trays or containers picked out, you need to decide what growing medium you will use. I say growing medium because you can use dirt as well as other stuff. Not all “dirt” is actually dirt and they are not all considered equal. Here are a few of the different growing mediums to choose from. When choosing the growing medium, it is also important to keep in mind what you are planning to grow because different growing mediums work better with different ways of growing plants. What I mean is that one way of growing plants is the more common way of sticking seeds in dirt and growing them. There is also hydroponic gardening which would require different stuff to grow healthy plants. I will be focusing on the more common method of placing seeds in soil and getting them to grow.
POTTING SOIL

The first one I would like to talk about is potting soil which is generally a soiless mixture. This is the one I prefer to use. It is a mix of different stuff like peat, perlite (the little white things that look like rocks) vermiculite and sometimes a wetting agent. I may be missing some stuff but that is the jyst of it. Depending on the type you buy, there may or may not be a wetting agent. All this is for is to make it easier to mix in water because peat tends to resist water a bit at first before it soaks it up. Some potting soils contain some fertilizer as well. The other ingredients perlite and vermiculite both play an important part in the potting soil as well. Perlite is added to improve drainage in the soil which is sometimes very important for certain plants and vermiculite is added to absorb and retain moisture. Both are very useful in the potting soil. Of course potting soil is not one of the more environmentally friendly options but in my experience it tends to work the best.
SPAGHNUM MOSS
Another soiless mix is something called Spaghnum moss. I have personally never tried this but it may work well.
VERMICULITE AND PERLITE MIX
You can also use a mix of vermiculite and perlite which apparently work well together. Using straight vermiculite though is a bad idea because it would most likely keep the roots too wet and kill off the plants. It would probably have poor drainage as well which is why using it with perlite would help because perlite helps with drainage.
DIRT

Another option is just straight dirt but I would advise against starting seeds in straight dirt from the garden unless you are going to add stuff to it which can be a pain. Regular dirt out of the garden is much heavier than potting soil and can have poor drainage.

COIR OR COCONUT FIBRE

Something else that I have noticed advertised more in the last few years is something called Coir. It is made from Coconut Fibre and is labeled as being environmentally friendly which appealed to me a great deal. I did try this option and I am not sure if I was doing something wrong but once my seedlings got to a certain stage they were dying off. I transplanted them to the usual potting soil and they did much better. I have not had alot of experience with this product so I am not sure I can provide an accurate opinion on the Coir.

As you can see, there are many options when it comes to growing mediums!

This may all sound a bit confusing or daunting so if you are just starting out and would like my opinion then I would suggest potting soil. It is common and found pretty much anywhere you shop so you don't have to go to any special stores to find it. I do know I am biased in a way towards which product I prefer but from my experience it is what works the best. I am only sharing from what I have read and learned through experience. :) Which ever product you choose, go to a store you know and trust. This can be a grocery store or a greenhouse that specializes in growing and selling plants/plant products. You can even shop from companies you trust online! There is Veseys and Stokes which are great companies. If you are able to spend the extra money, a greenhouse may be a good place to start if you want more information than I am able to give here. Once you have the growing medium picked out that you want, the next step will be seeds which I will cover in my next post. Happy Gardening!

Talking Green: Starting at the beginning. Part 1

Hello all!

Last year I finally convinced my sister to attempt to let me teach her to grow plants. I thought that I could maybe help her turn her brown thumb into a green thumb and in the process I learned a lot myself on what may or may not be common knowledge to other people. I am happy to say that my sister did really well and I would say she now has a green thumb! So I would like to try to share some of what I know in an attempt to help others grow better plants. I have a passion for growing plants and I would like to share it with others. For anyone who loves flowers but hates the cost of buying plants already grown, growing your own can save money if you know a few tricks. J So I would like to start at the beginning and share what I know and hopefully help some people along the way.

First I would like to start with the materials you need to grow your own plants. Then I would like to explain a bit about each item. This may be something most people know but for some it may be something new so I will just share everything. To grow your own plants you need seeds, a growing medium (such as soil), trays, water and light whether it is sunlight or a grow light.

For today's post, I will start with the first element needed to grow plants. This is the containers that you grow your plants into. If you are new at this, it may be good to start with something designed to grow seeds but you can also use anything around the house that can hold soil. I have used anything from yogurt containers, to old mugs. As long as it holds dirt you can probably use it. The only thing to remember is that if the container does not have drainage holes, then you should either poke holes in it (if possible) or put something in the bottom of the container to allow drainage. I usually like to use a bit of gravel in the bottom of containers that can not get holes poked in the bottom like mugs. For myself when I start seeds, I do prefer to use the greenhouse kits with the plastic domes because it contains the tray and lid and the cells (what you put the dirt and seeds into). It just makes everything simpler and easier. So this is the first element needed to grow your own plants. Tomorrow I will discuss the soil and how to pick out soil to use. Stay tuned!