Best Homemade Seed Starting Potting Mix Test / Review: Miracle Gro, Espoma, Simple Organic DIY
Best Homemade Seed Starting Potting Mix Test / Review: Miracle Gro, Espoma, Simple Organic DIY
Stop overpaying for seed starting mixes! Learn how to make a DIY seed starting mix that’s better than retail. Which mix yields faster, bigger seedlings? Is organic seed starting mix always better? What can you do to energize plants that are slowing down & turning yellow? This grow test shows what works & what doesn’t!
NOTE: In this unpaid, independent review, all prices are from Dec 2019.
The test compared 2 retail brands of seed starter mixes (Miracle-Gro vs Espoma) I used a 2nd type of Miracle-Gro Mix, a bulk bag of MG Moisture Control. While similar in physical properties, the higher NPK values makes it more fertile.
I tried more than 1 organic option, also making a DIY potting mix from coir (coco), vermiculite & perlite. (No peat moss). To fertilize, I used Espoma’s all-purpose vegetable fertilizer: Garden-tone. This organic nutrient source yields excellent growth. I wish the same could be said for Espoma’s Seed Starter mix!
1:41 Slide Correction: https://albopepper.com/images/DIY-RECIPE-2020.png
Espoma’s Amazon listing showed a photo of the potting mix bag stating: “earthworm castings”. Worm castings are a great organic nutrient source for growing strong, healthy plants. But the bag I received did NOT list worm castings. As the seedlings emerged it became clear that Espoma used NO nutrients at all in that mix. Their marketing claims were grossly false & misleading. And my test is clear proof! More below…
=============
PRODUCT LINKS (# CommissionsEarned)
=============
LED LIGHTS (Spider Farmer)
SF 1000:
► https://amzn.to/2YZfrLv (Amazon US / UK / DE)
► https://amzn.to/320wZss (Amazon CA)
SF 2000:
► https://amzn.to/2Nbs97b (Amazon US / UK / DE)
► https://amzn.to/2PJj8E6 (Amazon CA)
ORGANIC FERTILIZER
Espoma Garden-tone:
► https://amzn.to/2uSQPup
BASIC SEEDLING MIX
Miracle-Gro 8Qt Seed Starter (2 pk):
► https://amzn.to/2SepsD0
EMERGENCY NUTRIENTS
Miracle-Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food, 4 lb:
► https://amzn.to/2GNAeef
===========
RESULTS
===========
5 seeds in each container / 3 types of vegetables: Lettuce, Kale & Peppers. Each mix germinated at least 1 seedling out of 5. But as time progressed, I saw clear distinctions between each.
ESPOMA SEED STARTER (organic): Not very good at absorbing water. Seeds germinated ok. But did not appear very impressive. After germination, the seedlings remained extremely small & never developed. They slowly yellowed & lost vigor. Espoma instructs growers to feed the plants with a fertilizer or to transplant. I think a good seed starting mix will be able to feed seedlings for at least a couple weeks. The seller claimed their product is “rich” & promotes root development. Without NPK, I find this to be an empty claim. The mix was overpriced & a waste of my money.
MIRACLE-GRO SEED STARTER (synthetic): An acceptable seed starting mix. It’s fine for a beginner. Water absorption was ok. Seeds germinated fine. There was enough nutrient to keep plants growing for the first 3 weeks. Plant growth is not impressive, but it’s not too disappointing & the price was better than Espoma’s.
DIY MIX w/ ESPOMA FERTILIZER (organic): My homemade potting mix worked very well. It had the fastest water absorption. Germination was good. The nutrients allowed plants to grow nicely. In fact, the lettuce was extremely healthy & larger than expected! It’s organic too, so there’s no need to compromise!
MIRACLE-GRO MOISTURE CONTROL (synthetic): MG Moisture Control mix is not marketed or intended for seed starting. But it worked well for kale, peppers, beans, corn & zucchini. Lettuce was the only plant with issues. The seeds were slow to germinate & the rate of germination was low. I would not advise EITHER form of Miracle-Gro potting mixes for lettuce. In both MG mixes lettuce leaves show signs of either disease or damage. But otherwise, it’s a good mix option.
VERMICULITE w/ DELAYED MIRACLE-GRO PLANT FOOD (synthetic): I thought it would be interesting to also grow seeds in some coarse vermiculite. (Ideally, I would recommend medium or fine grade for seed starting.) This mix served as an informal control for the 1st few weeks. Then I decided to use those plants to demonstrate how a liquid plant food can quickly restore depleted plants. Within a week of application, I was already able to see the seedlings perking up in response.
=============
FINAL THOUGHTS
=============
This video shows several viable seed starting options. But ONE product I would NEVER advise is: Espoma Seed Starter mix. Without supplementation, it won’t work any better at growing plants than simple vermiculite. I could never see the price justification for it. I was so disgusted, I wrote Espoma asking for a refund!
#SpringGarden #IndoorGardening #Fertilizer #Horticulture #MiracleGro
•••••••••••
SUPPORT:
•••••••••••
W E B ➝ https://albopepper.com
F B ➝ https://www.facebook.com/albopepper
I G ➝ https://www.instagram.com/albopepper
T E E S ➝ https://shop.spreadshirt.com/albopepper/
•••••••••••
Is there any difference between potting mix and seed starter? Or can I use the worm castings + compost for potting mix?
The point of seed starting mix is light to no nutrients for sensitive seedlings. It really shouldn’t be used past 1-2 weeks. Interesting the Epsoma did so poorly right off the bat. Most seeds will have enough nutrients stored in the seed itself to get through the first week or 2 before decent roots are established. Guess that is not the case with these particular plants.
Thank you for do this video . It’s awesome vey good.
Very compelling video. So disappointed in Espoma. At 9:35 I think the lettuce edges are a result of too much or too close light maybe?
Nice comparison!
Im trying to replicate your DIY mix and for this test you recommend 75% coir/coco, 20% vermiculite, 5% perlite, but Im aiming at your large SIP bed setup.
When you say "coir/coco" are you referring to the fine coco products that some call "coco peat" or the stuff that is more fibrous? I ask because some people use coco coir and peat interchangeably which is confusing sometimes.
Unfortunately all the miracle grow products are not available in my country, so assuming one has only coco peat and/or coir, vermiculite and perlite, what would be the mixes you recommend for a large SIP?
I said "mixes" because from your large SIP bed video Im assuming you use 2 slightly different mixes: one for the bottom where the corrugated/perforated tubes are, and another mix for the top. How could I replicate them using the basic ingredients above?
Would you also recommend leaf mould in the mix as a (partial) substitite for coco?
As for fertilizers, Im considering osmocote initially but want to migrate to a self-sufficient organic option that works. You mentinoned in another video not to use manure or compost.
Would worm castings be ok? I also have insect frass from my mealworm setup and based on other mealworm videos that I’ve seen who feed their mealworms the same thing i do (basically wheat bran) their frass is rated at around 3-3-3.
Would that be acceptable or should I rule it out like any other manure?
Also, do you have any guesstimates on how much time such mixture lasts before getting
compacted or exhibiting any negative characteristics to a point I should replace it? The coco is organic after all and will break down eventually.
Thank you very much for your considerations, and keep up the good work!
This makes me feel better, I bought fancy organic seed starting mix this year and I have never struggled as much with leafy greens! I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I’ve been afraid of mixing my own, but I think I’ll try it for fall.
Thank you very much for doing your video here and for others that I hope to see, have just fallen upon these and pleased to find someone with pluck enough to speak out,
but who has actually gone about investigating this area, have you ever thought about the use of wool in seed production?
Myself I have only just learned of this, but I am no way a big time grower but when I can find time like to research more in this field.
I appreciate many YouTube production’s and very thankful to those who like yourself for doing this and just like to say, keep up your good work and do not be put off by some
nasty folk who just keep thinking they are a cut above everyone else.
You just keep going, doing what this world needs is more people like you, so many thanks once more.
Maureen
what if I told you…that seeds contain all the nutrients they need?
Very interesting lab experiment, thanks. I have all those ingredients at home, so I’ll make my own, including a bit of worm castings since I have them on hand.
Thank you for this very informative video.
awsome video great editing and shots very informative thank you
Thanks so much.. there are so many variables.. my water is heavily mineralized..I have a cold house..
I fertilized with MG I diluted to a 1/4 tsp. Per gallon and my peppers lower leaves yellowed the next day.. any reason for that?
i like a mix of 50% peat moss, 50% vermiculite with some dolomite lime and gypsum mixed in there. then feed with a 20/20/20 general purpose fertilizer. buds for days!
oh, did you get your refund??
Hi did I miss what your seed starting mix was?
How much and what
My seedlings dont have first true set of leaves and arent doing well. I think they need nitrogen. How can i give a little to them without harming? I have a bag of Biotone starter plus? Is that good to mix in the soil?
clear pots .. your test is lost in a sea of algae
Vermiculite is not sold locally. I have no idea why but no place around me carries it. Oh, they can order it.
I wish focus had been on germination results with more seed varieties. Hard to see on the chart (at least on a tablet). You tested these as a general growing medium. Starters are not intended to grow by design.
Would the homemade potting soil work as well without vermiculite? I just can’t seem to get a hold of it.
where did you get the clear containers? thx.
Isn’t vermiculite just asbestos with a different name?
Would the homemade mix be a good way to start a sub irrigated planter or is it just for starting seedlings? We are building planters next year and I am hoping to fill it with a homemade potting mix to save money.
Your channel is amazing! This was exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate how scientific you were.
Would your mix recipe be good for starting tomato seeds too? This will be the fIrst time trying seed starting indoors this year so I have been gathering info. Also, should I "sterilize" your mix? I’ve seen videos where they say to buy only "sterile" mixes or sterilize them yourself with boiling water or put the mix in the microwave??? Not sure this is even a good idea. 🤔
1:41 Slide Correction: https://albopepper.com/images/DIY-RECIPE-2020.png
This analysis is impressive and GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks for sharing this awesome experiment and information!!!
Your experiments are the best! I keep coming back to them every year. This time I have a question… I started with ”pro mix’ from Menards (mistake). Now things are starting to turn yellow and I have to feed. Moving forward, I’d like to amend this mix with the Espoma fertilizer you used in your homemade mix. I wondered the amount of fertilizer you used in your mix? Did you mix it with your soil? or did you dump a tsp in the hole?
Thanks for all your hard work. I agree Epsoma seed starter no longer has the nutrients to grow a seed into a healthy plant without added fertilizer.
I find jiffy mix to be much the same, so the last two seasons I switched to using Miracle grow MC when repotting.
This coming season I’ll add worm castings to Jiffy mix when moving my seedlings to the 4×4 pots since I prefer to garden organically.
What a fantastic video. New subscriber here! Thanks for the science and all the effort you took to make this video. I do have a question about adding organic fertilizer to the home-made mix though. Don’t you need soil microorganisms to break down the fertilizer? That would be missing in that sterile mix.
I’ve replaced vermiculite with 1/8in lava rock. It serves the same purpose as vermiculite but gives the roots a boost in minerals. I don’t have to worry about iron and magnesium for peppers and tomatoes anymore.
This was a great video. I’ve been watching several gardening videos this year because of trouble I ran into last year when trying to grow lettuce. But then, I have to wonder, at what point did gardening become so hard? My stepmother used to simply go out to the backyard; create rows to plant the seeds in the free dirt already available in the backyard; planted the seeds; labeled them; and made me weed the huge garden each day. Lol She used an irrigation system to water the garden, but I don’t think that really matters. By the end of the summer everything was ready to harvest. There was plenty of food without vermiculite, peat moss and special soil. She didn’t even use compost or fertilizer. Also, it was a dry climate..not much rain, and she didn’t even start the seeds before planting.
Anyway, it would be great to see a video where you get dirt from a couple of random places and try growing things in just plain, ordinary, free dirt. For comparison, you could use plain dirt; dirt plus fertilizer; dirt plus compost; and dirt plus fertilizer and compost.
I use Pro Mix all purpose potting mix along with Burpee starter & transplanting organic plant food. Works great on all my seed starts.
I just bought a big bag of the moisture control Miracle-Gro…I didn’t know anything about potting soils, just took a chance on it, but I did buy a cheap seed starting mix because I’ve heard that seedlings’ root systems can be shocked by too much nutrients in the soil, perhaps that’s what happened with the lettuce…obviously, the other ones weren’t affected at all…I don’t yet have anything to make my own mix, so I’ll use the Miracle-Gro for now unless I’m starting lettuce…I don’t care about organic, I care about production…whatever makes it produce, that’s what I want, organic or not…
Did you have any issues with fungus gnats with any of these mixes? Especially the bulk ones that aren’t specifically "seedstarting" mixes?
love your videos so much, very detailed and objective explanation. thanks so much for sharing, very helpful for beginner like me 🙂 GBU!
I LOVE THIS CHANNEL! I was searching the internet for information on a paper that I am writing for my job and I ended up on your wine cap video. Now I am LOCKED IN. I recently bought 5 acres and have been working on getting my garden going. I may have more space but this channel is LOADED with information. Thank you so much for being such an awesome source for information. You are doing with gardens what I do with mushrooms. Thank you so much!!!
Would using worm castings and some fertilizer in the starting mix be too much for seedlings after germinating or should be ok? Or one or the other should be good
Can you go into detail with your own mix. I only grow microgreens and I get damping off with my own mix which is equal parts vermiculite, compost, and peat. But when I use store bought mix it comes out fine but would like to save money because I plant every week with 7-10 harvest turnover. I haven’t tried fertilizer with peat and vermiculite. What are the ratios?
Lightmix from start to end
Your homemade mix is like a hydroponic system.
Excellent trial/comparison. DYI is the winner! Love it! Thanks AlboPepper.
Homemade seed starting mix is the way to go. Finely shredded/blended leaves (1cup), soil (1/4 cup), bone/eggshell/banana meal (1tbsp) will get you far with no issues. There’s no need to spend extra money here as everything could be made home with food you already bought well granted you have leaves at home.
Mixing my own is my only option. I can adjust my mixes according to my changing needs and saves me $$$. I don’t believe in paying huge markups for branding. No need to reinvent the wheel. If however you need a small amount or are looking for quick and convenient…then these brands will work for you.
In your DIY Potting Mix ilustration show that NPK: 0.18 – 0.24 – 0.24 . <– Those number comes from the Espoma Organic Garden-tone 3-4-4 and the proportion you used or you added any fertilizer later, explain me the math please?
Great video
All sead
Just to clarify for every 1 cup of coir/vermiculite/perlite mixture you add 1 teaspoon of Garden Tone? It’s a lot more in this recipe than in others. I don’t want to harm the seedlings, so I wanted to check. Most recipes say to add after they have sprouted. Im learning so I don’t want to kill this years batch. Thanks!
No need for fertilizer.in seed starter..till.they sprout right??
Thank you for doing this so I don’t have too!!! Omg homemade is way to go. I had problems with espoma and hated it felt so dry, thanks for calling them out!! This video makes me happy
Wow! I’ve been using Espoma Seed Starting Mix. No wonder the seedlings just sit there! Thanks for this video and your scientific approach.