Save Money by Making Your Own Seed Starting Mix (Here's How)

The best DIY seed starting mix needs only three ingredients, and you can find them all in your local garden center.

Save money and get my no-fail recipes for organic seed starting mix and potting mix that you can easily make at home (all without complicated soil amendments and fertilizers).

Keep them dry and you can store them to use next season too.

Basic Seed Starting Mix Recipe

– 1 part sphagnum peat moss (or coco      coir) – 1 part perlite – 1 part vermiculite

A “part” refers to any generic unit of measurement to make the quantity you need, as long as it’s consistent: a scoop, a bucket, or a bag of each ingredient.

Combine all the ingredients in a clean tub or bucket, and saturate the mix with water. Stir the mixture with your hands or a trowel until it’s thoroughly moistened but not soggy (like a wrung-out sponge).

Add as much water as the mixture will absorb. You might be surprised to see how much it holds—peat moss can absorb 16 to 26 times its weight in water.

Fill your seedling pots with the homemade seed starting mix, add seeds, and sprinkle a thin layer of vermiculite over your seeds if they need darkness to germinate. (Your seed packets should give any special instructions.)

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