So I got bored while waiting around for stuff to pop out. Since class isn’t starting for another two weeks for me (culinary school).I went out to the mall and bought three kinds of seed starting mediums. (local brands and pretty cheap)
Since the recommended Pro-mix and Miracle Gro Orchid Mix weren’t exactly available here locally, and I am not that crazy to go on ebay and buy that stuff online. So I went out and looked around for alternatives.
Two of the brands were soil-less mediums and organic.
These were: and Both Enrico brand and Ready Mix Soil had vermiculite, perlite, coconut husks, and compost. But Enrico brand was a soil-less medium and had no soil in it.
The one that had fertilizer in it was this one: Plantastic was mostly composed of compost and pelletized fertilizer or slow release fertilizer.
I went ahead and planted three seeds of my Thailand sourced Jolokia seeds. Since I live in a tropical climate and it’s warm out right now (32C). I’m leaving the seeds alone on top of one of the desks watered down.I’m also leaving a lamp on with a 40 watt bulb on it 24/7 till something sprouts.Since it’s starting to get cooler during the night I’ll need something to warm it up a bit. I’ll only water it again when the medium feels dry. At least according to everyone.
A few observations on the mediums, the Plantastic brand which was mostly compost and pelletized ferts when watered took the water real well, didn’t float up to the level where to water was and absored the water really well. It didn’t have vermiculte or perlite but was very fluffy and light to the touch. Both organic mediums floated to the top when watered. The Enrico brand had the worst kind of floating. Most of the medium when dry and then watered had all but floated on top of the level of the water. A lot like sand. Took a few about a minute before the water got completely absorbed and levelled out. The ready mix soil that had some soil in it also floated up but wasn’t as bad. I’ve used the ready mix soil once before and didn’t alright with my bell pepper starts so I’m giving it another chance with my jolokia seeds. Anyway, I’m gonna see if any of the seeds will start better with these three mediums and then I’ll go use that whenever I wanna sprout something up. Then hopefully I won’t have germination problems anymore.
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#1 by Hermon Warren on August 1, 2010 - 11:18 am
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I like your website. The reason I got there was I was looking for seed starter mixes available in the Philippines–yes I live here in Eastern Samar.
Could you give me an idea of some of the places That I might get get a friend of mine to but these seed starters in the makati area and ship them to me??
just for fun— which medium worked the best?? Which one do you think would be best for herb like dill, cilantro, parsley, etc.?
I appreciate your help. In the “old days” I had a big website in the USA and helping people was always one of my best advertisements.
Thanks— H. E. Warren, III
#2 by noobcake-admin on August 1, 2010 - 1:07 pm
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thank you.
if you live in samar, best way to go for seedstarting mixes is to make your own. i bet there are lots of cows, pigs, and chickens in your area. look around for farms that are looking to dispose of their poop. compost them, mix it up with a bit of sand, some coco coir and you got yourself a really good organic soil.
but if you want to really buy then i suggest gro-quik and ramgo / enrico / plantastic soil. i mix in a third of the ramgo/enrico/plantastic stuff and 2/3 of the gro-quik. seems to work well with my plants so far.
#3 by noobcake-admin on August 1, 2010 - 1:08 pm
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i try to grow all the herbs i can find. i’m studying to be a chef and i wanna be able to have all the ingredients i need for practice.