Depending on your soil type, garden soil can work perfectly well for many seeds. Weed germination can be a nuisance, but less important when your planted seeds are (1) large and (2) quick germinating. I think a thin layer of sand over the top probably helps to reduce the number of weeds coming up.
My soil here rinses off very easily when transplanting seedlings, so easy to separate seedlings without root damage (unlike peat-based mixes).
I think seed compost is supposed to have less nutrients, which is better for germinating seeds. But I have run out of seed compost and am about to sow some basil seeds (indoors) in multi-purpose. They will be in it for the entire life of the plants so I'm sure they'll do just as well as in seed compost.
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Depending on your soil type, garden soil can work perfectly well for many seeds. Weed germination can be a nuisance, but less important when your planted seeds are (1) large and (2) quick germinating. I think a thin layer of sand over the top probably helps to reduce the number of weeds coming up.
My soil here rinses off very easily when transplanting seedlings, so easy to separate seedlings without root damage (unlike peat-based mixes).
I think seed compost is supposed to have less nutrients, which is better for germinating seeds. But I have run out of seed compost and am about to sow some basil seeds (indoors) in multi-purpose. They will be in it for the entire life of the plants so I'm sure they'll do just as well as in seed compost.
I use a good quality potting mix for seeds. Emphasis on good quality. Never bother with seed-raising mix.