Make Your Own Seed Starting Mix

While you can buy seedling mix to start seeds, we find it a bit lackluster in most cases. You can and should have some fertility in a seedling mix, especially if you're starting indoors and growing for a while before you transplant into the garden. Here are three different ways to make your own seed starting mix, from simple to epic!

00:00 - Intro
00:16 - Boosting Seedling Mix
03:06 - Thinning Potting Mix
05:28 - Epic Custom Mix

Epic Mix:
1/3 pumice
1/3 coir
1/3 compost, worm castings, Azomite

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[AFreeLanceGamer]

Recipe 420 has been amazing stuff in my garden, that crowd doesn't mess around with their pot...ting mix.

[IAMGiftbearer]

This is the first time I've heard of using pumice instead of vermiculite in a mix. Do you do that because it's less expensive, or is there something about it that works better?

[imaspacewoman]

I have seen videos that grew with azomite and compared to no azomite that showed it did nothing to help the garden. You say your experiences are different?

[gracegwozdz]

I have earth worms in my garden. They do

[RoseLover]

Peat moss is way too acidic and most potting mixes and seed starting mixes are

[HalfNoodley]

I'm imagining all the gardeners that are still living with their parents. "Kevin from Epic gardening said to use it. It's good for seed starting, I swear."

[brianseybert]

Glad over the past couple years put some energy into producing my own materials for seed start and potting soil. The 2 year old leaf mold with some perlite has been a perfect seed starter. For potting soil; leaf mold, home made compost and fresh worm castings from the worm bins. Throw in some vermiculite and perlite and it's done.
Have not spent one penny on seed start or potting soil. So far everything is growing just fine and dandy.

[cliffcorbitt]

Why would anybody on God's green earth buy worm poop online when they can get it under the leaves from last year's droppings

[aliciaconnolly]

love the recipe 420 “for a particular type of crop” with video effects. Y’all are my fav 😂

[blondetapperware]

Today, my garden surprised me with blooming candela flowers and artichoke bulbs. Just in time for spring! Just wanted to share! Made me 😁

[JadeIsBaking]

Starting my spring garden today! This will definitely help. Thanks Kevin!!

[downunderfulla]

20yrs ago our premium potting mix was just that. All small and broken down materials. Somewhere over this time they got deceptive and now it’s got chunks of bark/wood up to an inch like the cheap and mediocre mix’s had

[Hannah-qdjs]

Hey, nice video, you asked early in the video why seed starting mixes should be sterile and whithout nutrients.
To answer the question: Seed starter tents to be very low in nutrients to promote root growth (because the plant searches for nutrients). Then, when you put the seedling in your garden it already has some strong roots to start of its growth. And store bought mixes are sterile so every batch is the same and it's asured that there aren't any soil-borne deseases in them.
But I guess putting some nutrients in the mix won't hurt. :D

[Auguur]

For years I have been starting seeds in potting mix, Then Plant Abundance did a video about using sand for cuts and seedlings... It works awesome! So easy, incredibly cheap and reusing the sand is a snap. Forget "mix" just use sand.

[Ottawajames]

RE: sterilized potting mix,

personally I like the idea that the bag of potting soli i buy has no insects nor eggs in it, no fungal spores and no unwanted seeds inside it. I have recently bought a Mycorrhizal inoculant amendment that helps establish a healthy colony of beneficial fungus and bacteria in "dead" soils. I started using it last season and have had pretty positive results, mainly that the watering requirements of my potted plants has reduced by about a third due to better retention and uptake.

I do agree with you that there's no reason they should be inert, which is to say devoid of nutrients, though.

[simplifygardening]

Great video Kevin. So many people buy bagged potting soil when with some knowledge and effort they should be making their own compost

[TaylorinShirewood]

In my context most of my germination and nursery work is done indoors, with grow lights; having a sterile seed starting mix is crucial in this space, for without it a lot of things can go wrong. One of my observations of gardening for the past year and raising plants primarily with grow lights/module trays - is that bags of soil left out for a season - can harbour pests such as fungus gnats, soil mites (not harmful) and other pathogens that can stunt growth of plants. Inside is not always as sterile as we might like to think, things like Downey Mildew can damage your seedlings if you don't have proper air circulation - reduced chances if you water from below! A couple of questions I have is - when it does come time to transplant these plants from inside, to outside; is there a noticeable transplant shock? What are the ways to reduce this shock? Is it just a myth, such as hardening off - something that Charles Dowding doesn't do?

[davidkoba]

actually the reason for being sterile and nutrient less is so fungus and bad bacteria don't attack your seed and seedling while keeping the mix damp. also the seedling doesn't need nutrients until the first set of leaves are developed.

[heycrisper]

This is the route i'm going from now on. When you buy a bag of potting mix that has a HUGE shard of glass in it (thank goodness for garden gloves) it makes you really think about what's *really* going into those bags too. It was the brand Root Farm for anyone curious. :(
Thanks for all the tips to put into my future seedlings!

[MrEMan-cykl]

Kev like: Spring is here!

Me, having gotten 2.5in of snow yesterday like: Eff you, Kev..