There are various commercial seedling growing mediums available on the market. These are generally safe to use, but with seedling production you need to keep costs as low as possible while still producing good-quality seedlings.
Imported components are costly, but poor performance is costlier. There has to be a balance between quality and cost.
I once did a big trial for a seedling producer who was using a commercial pine bark medium and fertilising through his irrigation system. I took combinations for each one. I would use the pine bark medium and mix in various combinations of agricultural lime, potassium sulphate, trace mineral mixtures, urea formaldehyde (slowrelease nitrogen), and superphosphate.
I used one-third sifted cattle manure on half of the mixes. The seeds planted were tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, Swiss chard, and cabbage. One tray was used for each mixture.
This story is from the November 29, 2024 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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This story is from the November 29, 2024 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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