but you then need somewhere to put those 5 million seeds that have germinated...
Yup - that's how I learnt I used to start toms in a propagator in January and by March they were about 18" tall with a stem the thickness of a toothpick! totally useless. But I learned a good lesson
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I should have said that I use the fine seed compost for germinating teeny tiny seeds like lobeliea etc, then pot them on into mpc. Big ones like peas go straight into mpc. Don't start until March either, only chillies get an early sowing from me (they take ages to germinate).
I did use a couple of coir blocks last year, but not for planting. I made a stinky mulch in an effort to deter slugs. Followed a recipe for the diy garlic deterrent spray I saw online and used it to rehydrate the coir, then spread it around OH's young veg plants. There was noticeably less chomping, but I don't know if that was down to the mulch or the heatwave. ???
I think Coir was tried as it is a waste product of the coconut industry, it was hailed as an alternative to Peat as a renewable resource. It was only later that some of the issues became apparent. Many people do not know that many MPC composts have wetting agents (detergent like products) added to them to help them re-hydrate after drying. If you want to try a non peat renewable compost try the wool/ bracken based ones they are pricy but my own experiments with it are very successful so far.
I've had success with coir. Most of my seeds were germinated in it last year and I got a good germination rate. I use capillary matting under seed trays to keep them constantly moist. I also used coir mixed with a cheap green waste soil improver and continuous release fertiliser to do all of my patio pots. They grew as well as when I've used mpc in the past. When I made up the coir I added a liquid seaweed to the water to give the plants a boost before the continuous release fertiliser kicked in.
This is clearly more of a faff than using standard mpc straight out the bag. My motivation was to stop using products containing peat and pay less than the commercially available peat free mpc.
I find the continued use of peat by many gardeners quite odd. Most profess to actively encouraging and helping wildlife in their own gardens but are happy to destroy that which they do not see.
I like coir, partly because I don't have a car and I usually order eight coir bricks every year from the Organic Garden Catalogue, and a sachet of the nutrient granules to go with them. They take up little storage space, are light, clean, odourless and free from weed seeds. I add a double handful of seaweed meal per brick to help with water retention, and a dash of liquid seaweed feed.
As for peat, the OGC also supplies peat bog friendly peat. Fine particles of peat get into the streams which drain the bogs, and is recovered from reservoirs.
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I used to start toms in a propagator in January and by March they were about 18" tall with a stem the thickness of a toothpick! totally useless.
But I learned a good lesson
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Don't start until March either, only chillies get an early sowing from me (they take ages to germinate).
I did use a couple of coir blocks last year, but not for planting. I made a stinky mulch in an effort to deter slugs. Followed a recipe for the diy garlic deterrent spray I saw online and used it to rehydrate the coir, then spread it around OH's young veg plants.
There was noticeably less chomping, but I don't know if that was down to the mulch or the heatwave. ???
This is clearly more of a faff than using standard mpc straight out the bag. My motivation was to stop using products containing peat and pay less than the commercially available peat free mpc.
I find the continued use of peat by many gardeners quite odd. Most profess to actively encouraging and helping wildlife in their own gardens but are happy to destroy that which they do not see.
As for peat, the OGC also supplies peat bog friendly peat. Fine particles of peat get into the streams which drain the bogs, and is recovered from reservoirs.