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Post by mikenottinghamuk on May 31, 2017 1:45:05 GMT -5
here is a video about starting seeds with D.E.
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Post by september on May 31, 2017 7:44:16 GMT -5
Good to see you posting again, Mike - where you been? Hope you have better tomato growing weather there in the UK than you did last year, with all the wind storms.
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Post by mikenottinghamuk on May 31, 2017 9:31:29 GMT -5
Hi-September, at the moment we have weather approaching 95% F i'M nearly boiled alive with it good tomato weather though, other than the fact I am having to water them three times a day. Growing some real corking plants this year, all top notch stuff, and now that I have got a big bag of 20kg of D.E. who knows ?, I might even have 1/2 pound sweet cherry tomatoes -lol
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 31, 2017 9:53:13 GMT -5
So Mike, does it seem that starting seeds in DE is better than using vermiculite? I might have to do a comparison test...
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Post by mikenottinghamuk on May 31, 2017 18:13:24 GMT -5
Vermiculite is very dodgy stuff, healthwise, some years ago as of now, they did some study tests, and found that vermiculite can cause a number of bad health issues, mostly blood related,all horticultural workers were advised to stop using it, as some of them died, but I see that the continued use of it has gradually crept back in again, and all warnings ignored, I stopped using it many years ago because of this problem. However-with D.E. there is no such problem, you can even take it as an intestinal parasite remover, it also works on all forms of animals and birds.
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 31, 2017 22:24:14 GMT -5
mikenottinghamuk nVermiculite used to contain asbestos - the main problem with it in the past. The only thing I use it for is starting pepper seeds, though later, I'll add that leftover vermiculite to a later batch of container mix. It seems that we would need a finer granule than 3-5mm to start seeds in. This seems like it would have large air pockets between them, and would dry quicker than we would want. But I'm just guessing. I looked at some at a local store today, then checked it out on Amazon, and got a 25 lb bag MUCH cheaper, shipping included! How can that happen? It didn't say what size the granules are, but I figure that I can sift it, getting the overly large pieces out, and use them in the mix to transplant the seedlings to. I'll do some side by side comparison tests to my usual mix with perlite for the drainage and aeration, to see how they compare.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 1, 2017 14:39:22 GMT -5
I got the DE today! I couldn't believe it at first, but then I realized that the company is in my state, and not far away.
It looks like the size is about 3 mm max., mostly a little smaller, and should be a good size. I'll have to experiment with it, using extra seeds I have.
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Post by mikenottinghamuk on Jun 3, 2017 23:09:24 GMT -5
you can normally buy both fine and course grades almost anywhere, the fine grade is usually the one they advertise as being used for dusting over plants for red spider mite and white flies etc,as it kills stone dead all forms of insects as soon as they touch it-(not to be confused with the food grade white powder from freshwater sources) which is a bit different, the food grade brown coloured powder is the one that you want, it is just a crushed down version of the larger granules,and people have been germinating seed with great success in it or in both grades for that matter, but the larger grade is the one that is being used to grow giant plants in, with massive root balls 3-4 times the normal size,one person grew a giant plant 10 to 12 foot high loaded with extra trusses of flowers and tomatoes later on, and a massive root ball of solid roots two foot across or more, - actually that's what set me off investigating it and studying it, and so far I am very impressed by it
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 4, 2017 9:05:56 GMT -5
It might not be the DE that is resulting in these incredible growth rates, but rather the compost/worm castings. I am going to do a side by side experiment, using perlite in one, and DE in the other, with the rest of the mix identical. I'll also do a comparison test sprouting them in different mediums, before transferring them. This video did not really win me over, because starting seeds in pure coir or peat is not really good - you need some perlite, for drainage and air. But I am always open to trying new methods! I'll post my results.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 4, 2017 19:46:37 GMT -5
Today I set up that experiment. The 6 pack of pots to start the seeds in has 2 DE, 2 promix BX, with nothing added, and 2 of my usual mix: about 80% promix, 10 % coir, 5% more perlite, and 5% worm castings. Then I made a 6 pack of mixes to transplant to, two like the one described in the video, with 50/50 compost and DE, with about 10% worm castings added, and a other two with the same amount of compost and worm castings, but perlite in place of the DE. Then there was one plain promix, and one of that mix I make up. I'll try all the same variety of some tomato in them - I'll find something that I have a bunch of seeds of that I can experiment with.
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Post by mikenottinghamuk on Jun 5, 2017 1:48:22 GMT -5
Sounds good, I shall follow your experiments with much interest and maybe adapt some of them for my own use.
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pattis
Junior Member
Posts: 27
Joined: December 2010
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Post by pattis on Dec 7, 2017 21:39:13 GMT -5
Today I set up that experiment. The 6 pack of pots to start the seeds in has 2 DE, 2 promix BX, with nothing added, and 2 of my usual mix: about 80% promix, 10 % coir, 5% more perlite, and 5% worm castings. Then I made a 6 pack of mixes to transplant to, two like the one described in the video, with 50/50 compost and DE, with about 10% worm castings added, and a other two with the same amount of compost and worm castings, but perlite in place of the DE. Then there was one plain promix, and one of that mix I make up. I'll try all the same variety of some tomato in them - I'll find something that I have a bunch of seeds of that I can experiment with. What was your result?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 7, 2017 22:42:36 GMT -5
Sorry I never posted the results (I thought I had ). Anyway, I really didn't get such great results with the DE, as suggested in that link. It worked OK, but it seemed to dry out too fast, both as a seed starter and in the 50/50 mix for growing seedlings. The one with the perlite in place of the DE grew at almost exactly the same rate as the one with DE. These grew a little faster than the ones without compost, but the stems were thinner - the reason seedlings are usually grown in soilless mixes, and not fertilized a lot.
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