The Best and Effective Seed Starter Soil for your Garden

I was very worried about my plants, vegetables, and fruits, and how I would manage to maintain their nutrients. Are you aware of this issue? It’s important for plants to get all the nutrients they need from the soil to thrive and achieve maximum yield.

While researching this, I discovered seed starter soil. Yes, you heard it right—one product can fulfill all these requirements. Are you wondering how to get it, how to use it, and which seed starting mix is the best? Just hold on—all your questions will be answered here.

In this article, I’ve explained every detail about seed starter soil so that you can decide which one is the best and how to use it. So, let’s not wait and get started.

Quick takeaways:

• The seeds need a good seed mix when planted inside the house.
• Seeds need extra nourishment and care than mature plants. Thus, the seeding mix is the appropriate choice to go with.
• Seed starters are used in the starting process of sowing seeds.
• The seed starter is a solution that helps the seeds to germinate healthily.
• It is a blend of many materials and the consistency is quite light with the very minute particles of substances in it. 

Soilless seed starting mix?

The seeding mix is soilless and seeds don’t need soil to get nutrients as the seeds have all the food that the embryo needs. The seeds are more susceptible to diseases and contaminants. For this purpose, we need a seed starter mix that has coconut coir or peat moss that will help the nutrients stay bound and the proper drainage. The potting mix ingredients give the conditions that soil cannot provide. 

Can you make your seed starting mix?

Now you are creating this mix all by yourself, and knowing that the mix is for the seeds, the mixture should be very light and don’t have big chunks in it which can damage the seedling roots. For making the seeding mix all by yourself, you need compost(4 parts), vermiculite(1 part), peat moss(2 parts), and perlite(1 part). After adding all these ingredients, moisten them with a good mist of water so that they are easy to mix and crushed well. Perlite should be added more in the case of succulent plants.

Is seed starter potting soil necessary?

Why should I be using soilless seed starting mix when I can sow them directly in the soil? Weird! Right!? But you need to know it is essential to do so. The seeding mix is fluffy enough and airy for the seeds. The seeds are very tiny and need nutrients and less burden as well. The soil is denser than the seed starter and is proven to be the habitat of microbes and nematodes when it is brought inside a container. Seed starter mix is highly nutritive for the seeds and gives the best results than the basic soil. 

Conventional seed starting mix composition

• Perlite- perlite is made from volcanic ash helps in proper drainage and keeps the soil compact and bounded.
• Sphagnum peat moss-light textured a spongy-like substance that absorbs a lot of nutrients from the soil and in close affinity to seed, acts as a nutrient channel. 
• Vermiculite- helps in retaining the nutrients and water in the soil with its expanding ability when it gets heated. 
• Diatomaceous earth(DE) – the dead decomposed remains of diatoms, with a powdery texture known for killing bugs in the soil.

Best organic seed starting mix – Best Seed Starter Soil for your Garden

Espoma seed is starting to mix natural and organic 

• Ingredients: perlite, much-tone, peat humus, sphagnum peat moss
• Quarts: 8
• Type: Organic

Coast of Maine organic seed starter soil mix

• Ingredients: compost, kelp meal, perlite, sphagnum peat moss, worm castings
• Quarts: 16
• Type: Organic

General hydroponics rapid rooter plant starter 

• Ingredients: peat moss, binders

Hoffman 30103 seed starter soil, 10 Quarts

• Ingredients: sphagnum peat moss, limestone, a moistening agent, vermiculite
• Quartz: 10
• Type: Organic

Organic jiffy seed starting mix

• Ingredients: Canadian peat moss
• Quartz: 12
• Type: Organic

Burpee organic seed starter soil mix

• Ingredients: coconut coir
• Quarts: 16
• Type: Organic 

Miracle-gro seed starting potting mix, 8 qt. 2-pack

• Ingredients: sphagnum peat moss, perlite, fertilizer, a moistening agent
• Quarts: 8 
• Type: Organic 

To know more about the plant world, you may also read related articles, What are the different types of Microgreens? (& How to Grow them?) 

Seed Starter Soil Buyers guide

The seed starting mix that is effective should own the following things, 

• Lightweight 
• Should retain water well
• Coconut coir being more sustainable is more selected over peat moss in the seed starting mix for retaining water. Peat moss is no less but has less sustainability. 
• The acidic value of 6.5 makes the seed starting to mix workable. To maintain or reach this level some soil starter also has lime, so no need to worry.
• If your seed starting mix has some contents of the yucca plant, then just go for that one as they add antifungal, anti-microbial quality to the soil. 
• The certified organic seed starting mix is in more demand than the conventional ones
• The seed starting mix should have less amount of perlite and not too much. 

Should the seed starting mix need to be sterilized?

A sterilized seed starting mix is nothing but the mixture is properly heated even before the pathogens can grow in the soil. Using such seed mix is beneficial no doubt but even if they are not sterilized you can still safely use the starting seed mix. Sterilizing the seed mix reduces the chances of any kind of pathogens growing in the soil and seeds stay away from harm 100%.

Wrapping up the context

We hope we have cleared all your doubts regarding the seed starting mix. potting soil, and soilless seed mix. You know now how to make your seed mix at home or if you are up to buying one from the market or online, then what type of option you will go for. We love to help you all and let your garden bloom with healthy plants. 

FAQ‘s