Seed starting soil mixes--Mycorrhizae vs. Wool Pellets - Which Boosts Seedling Growth Better?
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2024
- Dive into the world of seed starting with our latest experiment! We explore the perfect mix for your seeds using soil blocks, experimenting with different ratios of peat-free potting soil, wool pellets, and coconut coir. But that's not all - we delve into the impact of cinnamon and mycorrhizae on seed starting soils, unraveling their secrets for optimal plant growth.
Join us on this journey as we not only share the results but also provide a wealth of information on soil health from a regenerative standpoint. 🌍 Discover sustainable practices and unlock the key to nurturing your seeds into thriving, healthy plants. Let's grow together!
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#SeedStarting #SoilExperiment #RegenerativeGardening 🌱✨ - Jak na to + styl
I would love to see a recipe with worm castings in comparison to your best soil mix, maybe Coco Loco plus worm castings, with and without wool.
Also, I just stopped by a local hardware store that has a small garden department. They carry pretty much just Miracle Grow products, but I asked them if they ever had Foxfarm products in stock. He said he could order them for me and if he saw an increase in requests, he'd start keeping it on hand. So, I ordered two big bags of Cocoa Loco and I'll encourage my neighbors to do so as well. And I note that his price per bag was way cheaper than Amazon!
Woohoo!! The more demand we create for peat free products the better!!
Thank you for the information! How much mycorrhizae did you add to the mixes?
I would love to see an experiment with dog fur! A lot of folks have access to that 😅
Challenge accepted =D
@@Blossomandbranch omg that would be amazing! I tried last year but I think part of my issue was that I didn’t grind it up first 😬 so it didn’t really mix into the potting mix very well. You mentioned in the video that you used your food processor! I’ll try that! My dogs eat the most expensive organic fresh food so I feel like there are probably some great nutrients in that husky glitter!
@@Blossomandbranch also I had no idea sheep could be so small and affectionate like dogs! I would love to have a couple little ones someday 🥹
If all else fails, @@juliagrummel8884 you could put all yer dog's fur into your compost pile (or tumbler) if that's something you do. (If you don't do compost, recommend trying. It's easy-ish.)
I cut my hair with a flow-bee (not a joke!) and always put my hair trimmings into the compost pile.
Good to know!❤
great information. thank you.
I had great experience with inoculum for my tomatoes and peppers last year. The roots were amazing. Interesting about the wool.
Love your experiments.
I’m super interested to see how you made your pellets! Would love a video on that!!
Thank you for sharing 💚💚💚💚💚
This is so awesome..thank you for doing this. Do you know how long microriza lasts? I bought some for transplanting a while back.. I didn't like the results.. they didn't thrive.. but it wasn't a controlled study.
As a biologist I remind that non-arbuscular Mycorrhizae don't associate with plants from the brassica family such as radishes.
Which is why we also tested zinnia in these blocks.
I have heard this. I planted turnips in my sheep sleeping crawls. Unfortunately we have to sleep them in because of predators and theft. This was just to try to break down the manure. They did really really well and when I pulled them there was a huge amount of white fungi type looking stuff all over the roots. Any ideas what it could be?
Sorry, I shouldn’t respond while talking to my kids-here’s the rest of my response!
It’s a good point to note. While the science is pretty clear that myco doesn’t assist brassicas, this experiment shows that while it helped the zinnias it didn’t negatively impact the brassicas so I’d still recommend adding it to a base mix. But you’re correct, it’s likely not necessary if you’re only seeding brassicas
Love biology
I don't understand what you mean: are you saying don't do it or are you saying "mycorrizhae" won't have the right effect.
Thank you for the video you are very knowledgeable and I appreciate your tips! I have a question if you were making the soil blocks ahead of time and you let them dry out would all the beneficial properties still be present or would they die??? Thank you for your help!
Love your videos and thank you for sharing all your wonderful knowledge with us!
Curious, your thoughts on using worm castings in the mix with coco coir? Vs wool i also cannot source coco loco but want to upgrade my soil seed mix better than last yr. 😀
Great video trying my first raised garden this year, first time soil blocking also. Where did you get the small trays?
Thank you so much for this test. I'm now already to get planting. I see many different types of mycorrhizae products and most talk about transplanting woody plants. What mycorrhizae mix do you use?
Love your info and videos!! I think I missed it in the video, how much mycorrhizae did you use in the most successful mix? (3 parts coco loco and 1/2 part wool)
I found your channel really informational and a great resource.
I wonder if you could do trial the same mix with instead of wool pellets a granular organic fertilizer and or alfalfa meal/ pellets
I have been stalking your channel WAITING for this video ever since you mentioned it on instagram haha Thank you so so much for the resources you provide, idk where my little farm and I would be without you.
Thank you so much for trusting me and being here! 🥰🥰
Hello, I am SO HAPPY to have found you as there is just not enough information out there on what type of soil to use when starting seeds. I am working on a butterfly garden so soil is importatn to get them started in. it's been so confusing! I am going to try your suggestion of using Straight CocoLoco w mycorrhizae but I would like to know how much Mycorrhizae I would add to the plastic trays (to start) I plan on buying the Soil blocker when I can. Ty :) I'm read to sow a lot of different seeds. re: Milkweed, Bee Balm, Mexican sunflower, pentas, Dianthus, Zinnias, Cosmos and a few others. Do you do a video on butterfly gardening and seed starting? Fingers crossed. I think I need all the help I can get lol its been a big overwhelming.
Fantastic experiment! ***Question: I'm curious. Did you process your wool dry or already wetted? Thank you!
Discovered soil blocking on your channel last year and am going to try this year. As a northern front range gardener it is immensely lhelpful to see what works for you. You are the only one I've found thus far who gardens in my zone/altitude. Thank you so much for your efforts and excellent information!!
I love getting the benefits of your experiments! 😉
This is so interesting!!! Thanks for putting in this work to prove what works. How much mycorrhiza do you use in the recipes you shared?
Great question, I did 2 tsp per 4 pints!
I’m not able to find your old soil recipe with the greensand. How much greensand did you add to recipe 1 with 3pt coco-loco/ .5pt wool pellet?
I appreciate this video. You sure did a great job of putting it together. I was able to find all ingredients fairly simple on a google search.
I have seen others ask but haven’t seen a response. Can you just use straight up wool and forgo the pellets? Especially since you fluff it up?
Thank you for the video! Where do you recommend sourcing wool pellets at an affordable price?
Good stuff! Do you have any thoughts on where to source wool pellets? I’ve seen them in some online shops, but I’m not sure if there’s a particular type I should look for.
Also, fun fact! (You probably already know this, as a flower farmer, but for your viewers…) Mycorrhizae are so important to Cypripedium (ladys slipper) orchids that they can’t grow without them. Basically the seeds germinate without roots, and mycorrhizae act as those roots, at least at first. This is one of the things that makes them so hard to propagate.
So informative ! From Canada here - zone 5B. Where do you recommend finding Coco Loco and whool pellets ?
Thank you for showing your result Bri! I started to do my own experiments with our own sheep wool... no results yet.
Let me know when you get some!!
YOUR TRAYS
What is the size of the white trays you show?
What is the name of the trays?
Where can one purchase these trays?
Learning a lot and thanks very much for sharing.
I saw a comment about using dog fur, also want to pitch other typical farm animals - chicken feathers? rabbit fur? goats? Love these experiments, thanks for doing!
Thank you for your informative videos! How much cinnamon do you use? Also, have you tried Fox Farms Light Warrior?
😊thank you for posting this video and went through the trouble to do all the experiments. it’s very interesting to see the result. 🥹any chance you can post a blog posts about the different recipes so it’s easier to reference please?
Thank you for this informative video! I have a question about growing tomatoes. Once the plant grows out of 2 inch soil blocks where do you transplant it and what type of soil do you use to transplant? Thank you very much!
How tightly did you pack your pint jar with the blitzed wool? just loosely?
These videos are so helpful! I might’ve missed you saying this somewhere, but how much coco loco do you purchase each year? Or maybe a better question is how many soil blocks do you get per bag? I’m estimating around 5000 seeds started this spring so just trying to get a sense of how much to buy. Thanks!
1:24 Could you please tell me how you turn your wool into wool pellets? I have plenty of wool for spinning and would love to use some of it in my soil blocking.
Thank you, Bri! I appreciate your experiments so much! I used wool in the garden last year I sourced for free locally and then did the pellets in the blocks. I was so impressed with the results, especially in the garden as a mulch. Really helped hold in moisture during drought times.
How do you make the wool pellets from raw wool?
Yes they really are pretty incredible!
You can watch our last video about swapping wool for peat for more info :)
Hi Brie! Please, please do a video on how you process the wool! Thanks for your videos!
You got it! I thought I did film it but then went to check my camera and it wasn’t on there-I just put about 1/2 a cup at a time in the food processor and pulsed it until it was fluffy before incorporating well! Someone had a suggestion to add water which is another great idea.
Hey Bri! Thanks for your experiments, as always. I think those are my favorite vids of yours. I feel like in the older video with wool I recall you soaking the pellets. Did you find that necessary this go round? Or simply putting the pulsed dry wool straight into the coco loco and adding water was ok?
What is the difference between wool pellets vs. straight wool? Can you just use wool somehow instead of ordering pellets?
Thank you for doing these experiments! Out of curiosity, how many parts of cinnamon?
How do we use the Mycorrhizae in the starting mix? And if I know a shepherd, what can I ask them for? Are the called wool pellets or is there another name? I'm so excited to start soil blocking this year!
Just found your channel! I’ve been enjoying your videos. Realized I didn’t know what the name of your channel was even. At the top of the screen on my phone it just says “Regene…” so for a second I literally thought your name was Regene 🤣
Im growing pecan seedlings and am going to an old pecan farm to take soil transplants for species specific mychorriizae
I just found a couple of bags if uncleaned llama wool on marketplace so I'm looking forward to trying this. Might puck up a blender from thebthrift store however 😂
Hey live on the wild side! 😂
This is so interesting! Thank you for spending the time to experiment with different seed starting mixes. For the past few years, I mixed coco coir, worm castings, perlite and vermiculite to make my own seed starting mix. Will have to look into wool pellets and coco loco to do some experiments of my own. :)
Sounds like a great option!! Might dabble with that next, have you made blocks with it?
@@Blossomandbranch I have never soil blocked before, but I just ordered one after watching your videos so I'll be trying that soon!
@@Blossomandbranchthis is the mix I use! This is my first year with soil blocks and I made a few as an experiment and they seemed to hold together well, but I haven’t tried it long term yet (not quite time to start my vegetables). I was able to make 2 large totes full of mix for about $45.
Love these experiments! I don’t have access to wool pellets but have plenty of raw wool - what do you think about using that? I’m thinking I might have to cut the fibres a bit? Or perhaps use lambs wool 🤔
I have this same question. Did you try it?
I've said this before, but I love your soil blocking videos. For some reason it's super satisfying watching you make them. I still have seed starting trays, but one day I want to give soil blocking a try instead...if only because it gives me another reason to play in the soil! 😂
Excellent vid, Bri! Talented teacher, great information. What are your thoughts on using both greensand and mycorrhizae?
We use both in our original recipe!! The greensand is a mineral shouldn’t interfere with the myco, we often add them both together :). Just want to avoid using things too high in phosphorus which can interfere with mycorrhizal associations!
How much Mycorrhizae is put in the mix?
This is great, thanks for the rundown! Do you think high salinity in coco coir products is one of the problems with high-coir blends? Does Fox Farms wash their coir before sending it to market?
According to their website: Triple-Washed To Reduce Salt Content
Would you use the same ratios for wool if you are just using wool from your own sheep vs the pellets?
Thanks so much for doing this research! When measuring the wool, are you using dry or wet wool?
Dry!
Do you think rabbit pellets would be a good substitute for wool pellets?
What size are these trays? The ones linked on amazon appear to be much bigger!
Very informative video! I think in the future a control batch for your experiments would make the results more clear. For example, how do we know the cinnamon did anything if there is no control blocks with no cinnamon?
That's exactly what she did here. The front trays have cinnamon; the back trays do not.
Thank you so much for all this. And thank you for what you use instead of the plastic seed trays. I want to move away from the plastic too. Thanks for all of this again so much. I’m new to the channel. I look forward to all the things in your channel.
Yay! I've been waiting for this one 🤩
Hope you like it! 🥰
I love your videos! They are so helpful--I tried the link to one of the older soil block videos to the fiberglass trays at epic gardening but I don't think they are offering them anymore. Do you have a new source? The stuff I find online seems unusually expensive for a tray.
They aren’t cheap if you buy singles. Buying in bulk is more affordable but yes we have them linked in our Amazon store. Alternatively just reuse old meat trays!
@@Blossomandbranch Great! Thank you!
Hi Brie, Thank you for taking the time and putting so much effort into these experiments. This is super interesting and informative. Love your deductions and answers my question of whether adding mycorrhizae inoculant makes any difference in seed starting. I started adding it just last week and was wondering of I'm wasting my money. So thank you for this. ❤
I wonder also if the nutrients are washed out more in the coco coir recipes. Assumption being that while coir does hold moisture the wool likely is better for that purpose.
Thanks for putting all this thought and effort into these experiments. I really enjoy hearing your findings!
Thanks for sharing your test results. I tried using wool pellets on my first tray of soil blocks but didn’t process them as you did, as a result I ended up with several that had wool pellets that were too big, even though I tried to crush them with my hands as I was blending the mixture. The food processor is a game changer, thanks!. I, too, have been eager for the posting of this video. Cheers!
Yes I did that last year too and had the same issue! I will try weighing out to see exactly how much I’m adding, it’s a tough thing to quantify!
Thank you for sharing your experiment results
😂 so I have an indoor goldidoodle who gets trimmed often, could I use this instead of wool? Funny but I'm truley asking
Where do you get the wool pellets?
Although it may not be as effective at moisture retention--could you substitute perlite or vermiculite for the wool pellets since they function similarly (even though there is already perlite in most potting soil mixes)? It would be much more cost-effective and I'm trying to keep garden costs minimum this year after investing a lot in previous years. Let me know what you think, thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to do the experimentation for seed starting. I ordered cocoloco just last week from Amazon. Regarding the greensand. It is hard to source and when you find it it’s a large amount. So 2 years ago I ordered the greensand mix and soil blockers from Gardeners Workshop (also has rock phosphate in it so I understand your concern about phosphorus). Being a home gardener this worked well for me. I still have some left.
I have had to use other Fox Farm soils with success. I’ll have to look to see if they have peat. Also, where did you get your greenhouse?
All of the other fox farms soils contain peat except coco loco unfortunately. Our greenhouse is a Qube by Juliana but they don’t sell them in the US any longer unfortunately. We have a video on the channel about our greenhouse from last winter/spring 🥰
Amazing! Continue to experiment like that. Thats what we need =)
I was able to find green sand last year and still have lots left. Is the wool pellets the substitute?
As we mentioned you can still use the old recipe as well-I’d just use up what you have. :)
Would espoma biotone starter be ok to use for the mycorrhiza?
That one has some additional ingredients in it so I’d be concerned about being too rich but I’d start with a small amount to try
You make my nerdy heart so happy! 🤓💚
Bri - you are such a great educator! Thank you for showing the various options and explaining the possible reasons for the differences. This is so helpful as I begin planning my recipe for 2024! I'll let you know what I use and how it goes.
What brand of mycorrhiza did you use. I found this extremely helpful. Thank you
I used Dr Earth's "mycos" which is just mycorrhizae and no added fertility but there are several brands out there--again, the more strains in it the better if you're starting a variety of seeds!
Thank you so much for your quick response@@Blossomandbranch
My seed starting station is in my family room (no basement, no laundry room, garage otherwise in use). Wool pellets and fish emulsion are not an option.🤢 Thoughts on feather meal? It was great for my lettuce!
The wool pellet smell goes away after a couple days :)
I also started in my house and Bri is right…the smell does go away after a couple of days.
Great experiment. When direct seeding the garden in the spring, I'm using a slurry of decomposed hardwood leaves (tea bag style), Microrhyzal innoculant, molasses, and mostly water that is stirred to whip air into the mixture. Then drizzle that down the rows just ahead of the seeds. The sugars feed the fungus until the seeds emerge and find everything they need right there ready to ... grow.
Yes! Direct seed inoculation is a very cost effective way and efficient to use mycorrhizae. 👏🏻
Can you link the products you use/recommend? mycorrhizae, wool pellets, etc
Here you go--The Mycos product came from Dr. Earth but there are some other good mycorrhizae linked in there :) www.amazon.com/shop/blossomandbranchfarm/list/Z2KV8ZO42UKZ?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfblossomandbranchfarm_0MHARVB4G6FME9RC5NT0
I love these experiments you do. I learn so much from them! I started using Foxfarms coco coir last year after watching another one of your videos and I love it! I also bought wool pellets last year and they are expensive so this year I will try the mycorrhyzia.
I really think it was a great option and simplified the recipe greatly!!
How much mycorrhizae do you add?
I am new to Gardner. After watching this video I am confident to buy the soil mix ingredients. I have watched your previous videos and can't wait to watch even more. Thank you !!
How much myco did you use in your " winner?" Thank you so much for your very interesting video!
also, do you recommend the granular or powder? :)
How much mycorrhizae? When is it added?
Hi! We are trying an experiment with soil, and soil plus wool pellets. However, the plants with wool pellets don't seem to be faring well at all. What could we be doing incorrectly?
How much did you use and how long has it been?
How much cinnamon do you add? I also read the your article on the cinnamon tea to help with algae control...does that have to be made new everyday for misting?
I would use it once seedlings are a bit older if you need it but I’ve found algae can be controlled quite well by letting seedlings dry out slightly between watering!
@Blossomandbranch I am having a hard time with knowing what "letting dry a little" looks like. Do you have a video that shows the color difference between a dry block and one that is still wet enough not to water. This is my first season soil blocking and try to understand the learning curve.
I have lots of raw wool, both washed and unwashed. Do you think I would see benefit if I chopped it up (somehow?) and added it and skip the purchase of wool pellets?
Yup!! It’s just hard to incorporate, I tried it last year too but didn’t try the food processor trick so I’ll give that a shot!
How much cinnamon did you use?
🙌
Did you add water to the wool pellets when blending them?
Nope, dry!!
But that would be an interesting thing, I bet would work quite well!! Like a slurry
Last year, 2023, I had poor germination with soil block using the regenerative gardening recipes. I tried covering blocks with burlap, plastic wrap, humidity domes, placing blocks on fiberglass trays, 1020 trays, food trays, heat mats, etc. The seeds placed in trays with seed starting mix germinated and the seeds in the soil blocks rarely came up. This year, 2024, I will purchase the Fort Vee or the Pro Mix for making the soil blocks. I am a small home flower gardener and it is less expensive to use a brand mix than to make a recipe mix. The wool pellet or green sand mix was another failure. I never figured out what I did wrong.
I would bet it was a moisture issue. Hundreds of people have used these recipes with success but those unfamiliar with blocks tend to not keep them moist enough during germination stage. Sorry they didn’t work for you!
@@Blossomandbranch I will try your mixture for twenty flower seeds in the two-inch blocks and keep track of the water.
@@MilliePattry using Saran wrap as a humidity dome and feel free to email me if you still can’t get it down-want it to work for you!
@@Blossomandbranch Yes, it was a moisture problem. The blocks died out too quickly after I watered them. I would need to water the blocks every 12 hours and then cover them with plastic wrap. Too much water, and they grow green mold; too little water, and they turn into small bricks. I like the Coco Loco product but discovered I can DIY something similar to Coco Loco using a Coco Coir block and some amendments. Wool pellets are expensive, too expensive for a small home gardener. Plus, they don't store after opening. I had to trash half a bag due to mold. This year, 2024, I am using my DIY seed starting mix with the medium soil blocks in a cell tray with a vented humidity dome. I use one tablespoon of mycorrhizae in 6 quarts of soil.😊
If you use wool pellets do you still need the mycorrhizae?
Nope
Could someone who has woolpellets tell me how much a cup of woolpellets weights?
I have sheep, and their wool is very fluffy, I cut it into small pieces with scissors but do not know how much te use...
If like to know that too. Anyone?
I can do that for you tomorrow :)
@@Blossomandbranchyes I would love to see that! I love your experiments. I’m thinking of trying that out with my dogs wool since I don’t have sheep.
@@emmymartinez7497 yes, same! We have a poodle mix dog and I've been saving his fur when we groom him.
@@Blossomandbranch Ah super sweet of you! ☺
A lIttle bit of Iron foliar spray will fix those yellow leaves right up.
So in another video you said wool pellets are too expensive and went back to coconut coir. What is the result of the non wool blocks?
We go over it in this video.
So it sounds like you are not putting any compost in these recipes?
We can’t get FoxFarm in Canada anymore ☹
Nooo! Any other good peat free potting soils up there?
How much mycorrhizae are you using?
I used 2 tsp per 4 pints
(By volume)
In the first group did you mean to say 3 parts coco coo and “1” part wool pellets????
Nope, it’s 1/2 part!
Thank you for taking the time to answer me. That was very kind.@@Blossomandbranch
I see use NO extra coco coir🤗
Bingo!! No need!
Have you ever added worm castings with your mixes?
I tried it two years ago with coco loco but it only marginally helped. Maybe I’ll run another next year. I like the wool pellets because they serve as a binder and also help with moisture retention. I don’t want to add more than is necessary
I may be wrong, but I thought the coco loco soul had worm casting already incorporated into their soil?
@@kathrynburgess8987it does! I think the poster maybe meant worm castings instead of the normal potting soil? I could be wrong :)
I'm now curious what would happen if you add cinnamon and mycorrhizae to the mix hahaha
I used to do that but since cinnamon is an anti fungal it may be counterproductive
It must be noted: Mycorrhizae=Fungus=Mushrooms.
If cinnamon is anti-fungal, then combining the cinnamon with Mycorrhizae would be less effective, as the cinn would act against the mycorrhizae.
I was thinking the trays with cinnamon were less-successful because it conflicted with the Mycorrhizae.
I wonder if I was confused be this video; My understanding was you used Mycorrhizae in all mixes, cinnamon in front trays. Is that what you did, or did you use cinnamon in front trays vs. Mycorrhizae in back trays?
That would make more sense.
Anywho, it has always been my understanding that cinnamon was best for preventing mold by sprinkling ON TOP of the soil. Also I seem to recall it deters gnats, too. Apparently the thing to do is put cinnamon in a sieve and use that to dust cinnamon on top of your soil-blocks (like the way a baker dusts sugar on top of a pastry). This prevents 'damping-off' and such.
I've never heard anything about mixing it into the soil.
I find myself wondering if we could add spent mushroom kits into our soil-blocking mix to get those specific shroom strains of mycorrhizae into our soil. I'm thinking it could be... interesting. (But would it be beneficial? That is the question.)
They didn’t have both, the trays only had one or the other (the closer trays had cinnamon and back ones had mycorrhizae)
Aha. Okay.
Thank you, @@Blossomandbranch.