vermi compost for Seed germination?

Hi, Is vermi compost good for seed gemination? I have planted Tomato, Dinathus, Morning glory and petunia seeds in the compost. The Compost was pretty moist and was dark black. The compost very much sticks to the fingers when touched. I didnt mix any soil in it, Just compost directly. Is vermi compost ok for seed germination? is it ok to leave the Sowed seeds in the sun. And how frequently should i water. Right now, im just adding drops.

Thanks.

Reply to
krinish
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No, compost is not soil. You need a mix with more pore space , something like sharp sand, sifted compost and loam and leaf mold mixed together. The straight worm compost is not going to drain well and will likely overwhelm your seedlings with fungi and damping off.

Reply to
beecrofter

The stuff my worms ake becomes hard as concrete when dry, so I'd be real carful of the sun. I don't know if the stuff would be rich enough to burn the seedlings. The quality you want in seed starter is loose, light, fine soil. The seed needs uniform moisture and little resistance for the roots and the top of the plant to push through. Vermicompost is not too good for this. I'd be interested to know if it works but I wouldn't advise it's use as a seed starter.

Reply to
Bobo

ill definetely let you know, if it works, thanks for both of your sugegstions. Im am starter and im pretty much exited about growing my own veggies and garden right from the seeds.

The Plant nursery agent advised me to use the coco peat mixture which was like a big 4 inch thick bed, mixed with coco peat, Loamy soil and sand. he told me to sunk and soak it for 45 Minutes in water and then it will swell and then sow seeds directly. Was he right? i wasnt pretty convinced, i thought he was making a quick sale.

Reply to
krinish

That sounds like good stuff, but I've had success with plenty of soils which "shouldn't" work, so you can always give a try. I've started seeds in something like 50% vermicompost, but 100% could be a challenge (although you never know; the melons from the kitchen waste always seem to produce seedlings in the compost pile).

I don't know what climate you are in (or even which hemisphere), but if it is summer where you are, and you have a frost coming up in the fall, you'll want to look for varieties which don't need a lot of days between planting and harvest. July is a bit of a late start for most things (not everything, though). Consider looking for some plants at the farmer's market or nursery if you don't seem to have enough time to start from seed.

Reply to
Jim Kingdon

Well i Live in Bangalore, India. The Temperature Never Goes beyound 29 C, and most of the time its 25 C, and during night it falls below 20 C. Its been pretty overcast throughout the last month and this.

Will a mixture of Vermicompost, Builders sand and Red Soil be a good seed starter?

Reply to
krinish

To start the most difficult seeds, like a perennial with a long germination time and a small seed, I use something like Pro-mix, which is a peat based mix available in the States. I would cover the seeds with milled sphagum moss which is very fine and light and gives little resistance to very small plants coming up through it. A tough to start seed might also take a long time to germinate so sterile mix would be important to help prevent fungal problems. Most annual vegetabel seeds are much easier to start but the same sort of principals apply. Large, quick sprouting seeds can push through a much denser mix than a small seed. In the garden, where I have a heavy clay soil, carrot seeds which are small and slow to germinate have a hard time. However, if I cover the seeds with seed mix right in the garden rather than putting the garden clay over them they do fine. I start seeds indoors because it's too cold here in the spring and they get a head start that way. You won't have that problem, so direct seeding might be fine. The only reason I would start seeds in pots in a tropical climate would be so they could start weed free.

Reply to
Butzmark

Should work well.

Reply to
beecrofter

Tomatoes should be perennial there. I'm not sure how many years a tomato plant lives, but they can get fairly large (and woody).

In colder climates you only see that if they are indoors.

And I imagine you could probably start them any time of year (with rainfall perhaps being your biggest issue).

Reply to
Jim Kingdon

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