Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Do I really need all of the John Innes for seeds??

CraighBCraighB Posts: 758
in Plants

Hi guys,

I started lots of plants this year from seed and my process was this... JI seed compost to sow the seeds, JI seedling compost to transplant the seedlings into and then John Innes number 1 to transplant the young plants into when they got bigger.

Does anyone else go through all this transplanting or do you use just 1 good seed compost and then just transplant the seedling into a general purpose compost??

I would be interested to hear how you all go about transplanting and which composts you use.

Thanks :)

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    I tend to mix my own seed sowing mixture using some seed compost mixed with sieved multi-purpose compost, sharp sand and vermiculite.  I then prick-out into sieved MPC with some sharp sand and pot on into as-it-comes MPC.  I mainly use Wickes MPC and some Grosure with added JI as I like the texture.  Always great results and I grow veg, perennials, annuals, trees, fruit and shrubs. image

    Last edited: 03 June 2016 21:48:11

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    I buy mine from Wickes.  As long as it is 'sharp' or 'grit' sand and not 'builders' sand you should be OK.  Sharp sand is gritty whereas builders sand has round grains.  No issues with lime or salt with the stuff I buy.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • nodlisabnodlisab Posts: 414

    Never used seed compost a complete waste of money, just use MPC  never had a problem with germination.

  • ClaringtonClarington Posts: 4,949

    I just slap my seeds in whatever compost I have knocking around! Mind you I don't grow the difficult seeds that might benefit more.

  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410

    I use seed compost - always get pretty good results.  I then prick out and pot on in MPC .....whichever sort the GC is currently having a deal onimage

  • nodlisabnodlisab Posts: 414

    Verve the worst compost I have ever bought, absolute rubbish.

  • CraighBCraighB Posts: 758

    The thing that worried me was going from seed compost straight to a multipurpose compost because I wondered whether the nutrients were too high for little seedlings in mpc??

  • chickychicky Posts: 10,410

    I leave my seedlings til they have a true leaf - and they seem happy to move to MPCimage.  I wouldn't worry too much - we all seem to do it differently, and it all works - seeds amd seedlings just WANT to growimage

Sign In or Register to comment.