Passion For Fashion

When starting plants in sphagnum, vermiculite and perlite mixing your own can sometimes be the way to go.

Sphagnum can be obtained from almost any nursery firm and from garden centers. Before grinding, it should be hand sorted to remove tree leaves, grass or other organic matter that might serve as focal points for fungus infection. The dry sphagnum is rubbed through a 1/4-inch mesh screen to grind it. Ground sphagnum can be purchased but the cost is greater and you will save money by preparing your own.

Both vermiculite and perlite can be purchased from the lumber yard at a cost lower than at a garden center if you are using a great deal of it. Ask for the plaster aggregate grade of perlite and the concrete aggregate grade of vermiculite.

Fill your flats with the mixture of 1 part sphagnum, 2 parts perlite and 2 parts vermiculite, making sure that it is well packed in the corners and along the edges. After the flat has been filled and watered, plant the seed. You can either sow broadcast or plant in rows. Don’t use too much seed. Crowded seedlings cannot develop into husky plants, and you will have to thin them. In the sterile mixture, seedling losses are far less than in soil. If seed germinates, seedlings will not be reduced in number by disease.

Seeds can be planted somewhat deeper than in soil, for this medium offers little resistance to the emerging seedlings. There is none of the hardening or crusting that occurs in soil. Larger seeds like aster, dianthus and delphinium can be planted 1/4 to 3/8 inch deep. The tiny seeds of petunia and snapdragon may be 1/8-inch deep, while the dust-like seeds of begonia and African violet should be sown on the surface.

Water the tiny seeded kinds with a very fine spray to avoid disturbing the surface of the growing medium. Better still, water from the bottom by setting the flat in a pan of water. One nice thing about our mixture is that you cannot overwater if there is proper drainage in the container. Excess water simply drains away.

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