Worth Using vermiculite with MPC for sowing?

[ugley_matt]

Is it worth mixing 50/50 MPC and vermiculite to use as a sowing compost for my trays and pots?

[rustylady]

I don't bother, just use MPC.

[MarkHackwell]

I think soo I seem to have been using this mix to sow my seeds this year and its worked brilliantly as the vermiculite helps to conserve moisture as well as hold in the nutrients. It also allows more air into the compost helping the seeds to grow better. Most seed composts have vermiculite in to help with germination so i would say yeah it is worth mixing vermiculite with Multi Purpose Compost

[redser]

50/50 sounds like it would be very expensive

[Paulieb]

For large seeds (Beans, sweetcorn) I don't bother because it would be quite expensive, and they tend to be big enough to cope if they're a bit too wet.

For medium and small seeds, if you sow into trays and then prick out then I'd say its worth using for the above mentioned benefits and it shouldn't be too expensive (I'd sow about 10 toms in a 3 inch pot), then pot on into single 3 inch pots with just compost.

[Aberdeenplotter]

50/50 sounds like it would be very expensive

and wasteful. 12 parts compost to 1 part vermic is adequate.

[phil the shed]

8 scoops of seed or mpc
1 perlite
1 vermiculite
1 grit
1 sharp sand
thats my fave mix

[SarzWix]

If you're trying to be ecologically friendly, then vermiculite isn't a great choice... I stopped using it altogether when I found out where it comes from I sow pretty much everything in sieved multi-purpose now and have no problems.

[Madasafish]

I use a very fine layer of (ground up fine in my hands ) vermiculite as a cover for very small seeds. Means - in theory - germination is easier.

A small bag used like that lasts me several seasons..

Never use it mixed with MPC. (too mean:-)

[Aberdeenplotter]

you talking about the source in terms of distance Sarz or are you thinking along different lines?

[SarzWix]

Distance travelled, the fact that it's mined, and the form that gardeners use has to be exfoliated, or heated to expand it in industrial furnaces... So it's mined in South Africa or Russia or the US and then it travels to an exfoliation plant to be heated and expanded and then it travels back round the world to be packed by distribution companies.,. It's a big old carbon footprint

[Potstubsdustbins]

A bit like coir then?

Potty

[SarzWix]

Coir isn't mined, or heated in industrial furnaces, so not quite, although its distance travelled is problematic.

[Potstubsdustbins]

They both suffer from what seem to be hidden problems. The coir certainly isn't mined but like vermiculite the ships it travels in are made of steel and driven by oil. And of course there is a lot of water used to re-hydrate it when it lands on these shores.It also has to be soaked in calcium to remove excess sodium and potassium. Its also an allergen to some people.

I for one don't claim to have the answer's for it seem that what ever we use it has its down side.

Potty

[Aberdeenplotter]

It's a big old carbon footprint

Point taken