How to Make the BEST Seed Starting Mix. Back to Eden Start a Organic Garden Method 101 with wood Chips. Then add just WORM Castings on top. Inspired by Paul Gautschi.
VIDEO: How to Make the BEST Seed Starting Mix, Back to Eden Garden Method in wood Chips.
How to Make the BEST Seed Starting Mix. Back to Eden Start a Organic Garden Method 101 with wood Chips. Then add just WORM Castings on top. Inspired by Paul Gautschi.
What a great method! I like it!
All the plant and planting info on the seed pack is great. Where do you get them?
Dear Mark, You are a God send. We live far from the nearest town and have very little money. I wasn't sure how we were going to swing purchasing potting soil for our starter plants this year. What we do have is plenty of leaf compost and worm castings from our worm farm in the cellar 🙂 . Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Be proud you will help to feed our family for years to come. God Bless -Kathryn in Quebec
Worm castings and leaves are two things I have more than enough of, so I thought why not try this out. And it has worked perfectly. Seeds have germinated as well or in some instances better than in the commercial potting mix I have used so far. So no more bags of plastic needed, fantastic.
good idea!!!! I use shredded leaves as mulch mostly, but now I need to try this. Here is a little tip on shedding leaves. I use my gas string trimmer with a thick square string (cuts dry leaves the best). I empty out a bag of leaves into my trailer with wood sides and can shred the leaves into a fine mulch within a minute or so. Then you could screen out the bigger pieces. I'd imagine this might go a little faster if you had a lot of leaves to shred!
With the composting, can you, or have done and used soil block? Can it be done? Is there pro's and con's to using the soil block method instead of seed cell containers?
I tried this and have one word of caution. This mix holds water very very well and doesn't drain well. I ran in to problems due to the plants staying to wet. It worked great for starting seeds, however, I would not recommend for moving up into larger pots without having been taught by someone with experience in how to water this mix. Having only watched this video…. lets just say I ended up re potting all my plants.
hi mark, thanks for all your videos. As I live in a tropical climate I can't make use of all of them but I'm trying. I wanted to comment on the way you grind the leaves. I did it with an old blender and yes sir, its way better than waiting for it to compost. I also ground peanut shells and they produced a much more finer product. I going to try to plant some seeds in it and see how it goes. Thanks for your information.
Excellent – I thought you were going to take us into your shed and reveal some electrical contraption … but no, you reveal a gadget we can all make on the cheap and reuse for years to come. I'm learning so much from your well explained videos … even the reason for watering seedlings from the bottom… 🙂 Thanks
so i just need a dry leaf to make my own starting seed??
Fantastic all round! Although I'm envious of your supply of deciduous leaves. There's just not enough trees here, let alone ones that drop lots of leaves.
Thank you.
you have to sterilize the leaves first? are there any risk of fungus spores or bugs? do you wet it with hot water? thx
Wouldn't an old food processor work better?
Wondering if you do anything to eliminate the chlorine from the water you use to water from the bottom.
When you are watering from the bottom like that, how deep is the water in the lower tray and how often, or constant depth?
Had my 1st garden this year, I grew nothing from seed. But I am planning on doing some this coming year. So thanks for the tip. Should save me some money as I already have most of the items already.
Hi, Mark, this is just what I need, thanks! Can you help me understand… I have some leaf mold from last year which is naturally loaded with worm castings, and some new leaves this year (a whole truckload, yay!), but no worm bin. Is it better to buy worm castings to use with the new leaves, use new leaves with coffee grounds maybe, or to use the old leaf mold? I was wondering if maybe old leaf mold would be too compressable or something like that. Thanks so much for all the help!
Omg! I just got 2 big bags of leaves from my neighbor, tomorrow I’m going to the park down from my house and get more! Going to invest in a green house and start my seeds! Thanks Mark this was just what I was needing!!!
Yes, I'll try soon, will report. Thanks!
This is fantastic information!!! Thank you so much! Will this feed/care for the seedlings for 2-3 months until transplanting? Again, thank you!
Mark, I first saw the video and thought “great idea”. I used your method but rather than using the screen rubbing against screen method, pulled out my Worx leaf blower/mulcher, attached the bag…and mulched the leaves until finely shredded. It took two passes. I emptied the bag of shredded leaves into a trash can and shredded them again. It took just a few minutes and gave me lots of fine material
Thank you Mark another great teaching video……would coffee grounds work instead of worm casting.
I'm flanked on all sides of my property with deciduous trees. I use leaves for everything: mulching, composting, and in the chicken coop. I have NEVER thought to use them to make my own seed starting mix. This is incredible. You're teaching self reliance. Thank you so much for sharing.
What worries me is the medium is not sterile and probably contains damping off diseases that can kill seedlings.
Love u vids. I us big trash can and run weed wacker. Works good
Mark looked like good idea, so I built one with a squire bottom not rectangular. Sure that isn't an issue. Not working no where near your video. I've used 1/4 inch hardware cloth and 1/8 inch hardware cloth. Wiring down piece in grate was a little more helpful. Spent 45 minutes and only got enough to fill 6 cells. Going to try chopped up leaves. Not giving up, think this is GREAT idea. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your wonderful videos that are always informative. I lack worm castings, so what would you recommend instead of castings?