DIY seed compost

[helly]

hi, i've been struggling with my seed compost and I've finally give in and bought John Innes seed compost because alot of my seedlings have grown then collapsed. I've realised that the standard multipurpose compost holds moisture therefore my seeldings are bogged down. So after using the bought in seed compost , I notied that it is very light and grity, so on this basis I added sharp sand to my multi compost and bingo I'm there I've got light grity seed compost. Any advice welcome on this
cheers Helen

[crazy_red]

Hi,

I had the same problem. The compost gets very water-logged but then I found it dried out too fast too.

I now add both sharp or silver sand and perlite or vermiculite to ordinary peat-based m/p and it seems to work very well for me.

3 or 4 parts m/p to 1 part of sand, perlite, or vermiculite: you can vary the proportions according to what you can get hold of re soil 'improvers', the type of seed and how free draining / moisture retentive you want your compost. Also depends on the specific type/brand of multi-purpose you use as well, I would think.

Generally I use 4 parts B&Q m/p to 1 part sharp sand and 1 part medium vermiculite and then cover them with sifted mix or fine vermiculte. I find this drains well when watered but doesn't dry out too quickly afterwards.

I just played mud pies, til it 'felt' right

Also if you don't firm the seeds into the surface, I found the seedlings don't come up evenly and often fall over....on the other hand if you over compress the compost, it excludes air and causes water-logging and that can cause them to fall over too....I found it's not as easy as it seems, this seed sowing lark is it?

Red