John Cook, the alpha dog at Cape Cod, also sells potting mix made up of those three ingredients. I would call John and discuss it with him. You may be better off to buy it already de-lumped and de-sticked. He carries mix for regular potting and a lighter mix for wicking. Many of the growers I know in the New England area swear by his mix.

Barbara

Thanks Barbara. I know others use his mix. I've thought about buying it that way, but I like doing thing myself and I can be a little picky.

I bought the regular potting mix from Cape Cod (not the wicking) and it has small lumps of peat too. I really like Cape Cod but I don't know if buying the soil pre-mixed will solve the problem.

I've wondered about those little lumps since they don't seem to dampen.

Fred Hill mentioned using their mix. Are you around anywhere, Fred? :)

Diana in PA

Hey Diana, thanks for the validation. I generally scoop out mix in a comtainer that holds maybe three cups at a time to work with and go through it with my hands to break up any clumps or sticks, I don't mind. I love my hobby. I just thought that it would be better for the mix if it were done before the fact. With my standards I'm not to concerned with clumps, but with minis , the roots take up such a small space that I want it to be the best that I can provide. But like I tried to state before. I can be an anal pain in the A perfectionist.

We Love you Cape Cod Violetry

Love Ya
ThomInIndy

Hi Thom,

When I first planted seeds, the directions called for a 50 - 50 mix of sifted peat and vermiculite. The method illustrated for sifting the peat was to use a kitchen collander. The twigs and trash don't get through and you can use your fingers or a tool to smoosh the lumps, which then get sifted. I ended up with a nice fine mix.

I've just been trying to do something about the lumps in mine, just a small amount for some tiny babies. I was using a tea strainer and these lumps seem like chunks of fiber. I suppose they aren't ground up or milled or whatever is done to the moss.

The best I could do was mash them so all the fibers weren't in the same mass.

I was so desperate for decent sized perlite (I had #3 and a lot of stuff labeled coarse that wasn't) that I made a sifter one night. We live a good 1/2 hr away from any store. I pounded holes in a large pie tin using a nail and hammer and it works anyway.

I'd certainly try to find something a bit easier to punch the holes into though. Also do your best not to breathe this stuff.

Diana in PA

You guys are PERFECTIONISTS! Big Time!

2-3 cups... I fix 5 gallon bucket at once. I usually use hot water to add to the dry mix - I buy premixed bags at the Violet Showcase - they add charcoal, microelements and dolomite to have 6.5 PH.

After I added water - I mix it with the small shovel - and let it sit overight. I add Marathon, a half cup of Bone Meal - and a cup of worm castings - and really mix it well. I heard if you have problem wetting peat -and this is the clumps issue - you can add several drops of Down dishwashing soap to the water - a lot of premixed commercial soils have wetting agent added to compensate for peat moss "feature".

I do not believe that "sticks' that come with peat will do any harm unless they are wood chips. They will just add more air in the mix. I very much agree with Diana - coarse perlite is good, perlite dust - is not.

It seems to me that the uniformity of soil is probably important for starting seedlings. Something that is not miniscule in size probably will benefit from a presence of coarse perlite, may be several sticks and pieces of charcoal that will create air pockets in soil. If you run your soil through the seeve to remove all inclusions - it will be more prone to compacting and roots will not get enough air.

Almost Weekend

Irina

Irina,

These lumps, in mine anyway, are more like bunches of fibers. It's not just ground moss clumping that's not getting wet. It's a compacted mass about the size of a navy bean(?). Beans aren't my thing. I didn't worry much about it with a larger plant but these were tiny minis just off the leaf. The mix is fairly fine textured otherwise.

I have great respect for you, but have you seen #3 perlite? :D It's about the size of a small marble. I would love to be able to go buy something pre-mixed that was reasonably priced but shipping mixes adds a lot to the price. I went to Pittsburgh (2hr. drive) to pick up my bale of Pro-Mix which had come from Ohio. I couldn't even find a shipping price that was less than the cost of the Pro-Mix. (I'd buy #2 perlite again but it's hard to tell how coarse it is from photos.)

It was too late, but I did find #2 recommended for the mixes; however I am using the #3, sometimes with a bit of supplementation from some sifted stuff. In a pinch, and if you don't need a lot, you can make a sifter by putting holes in a large plastic drink cup and get a small amount of coarser perlite if you've gotten stuck with a bag that has a lot of very fine stuff in it. The Dollar Store cups are a little easier to work with than the brand name ones.

(I think it was my old P. Bartholomew book that mentioned the perlite sizes.)

Thank you for the tips on wetting normal peat but this isn't normal. The mix wets quite easily. I've used very little regular peat but with spaghnum, I just always use hot water. I used to boil it but found that wasn't necessary. (If I found wood chips, I'd be concerned. I just throw the occasional small stick somewhere.)

How do you add Marathon? Do you have a formula?

Diana

Hi - Diana -

My formula of Marathon - a 3 oz solo cup per 5 gallon bucket. If I buy new plant - I usually repot them right away - and sometimes I find root mealies or suspect root mealies - in this case - I cut the roots off - and add extra Marathon into rerooting mix. For whatever reason we have lots of mealies in CO. I personally know several growers who have this problem - and allergies prevent them from using pesticides.

I just got a large bag of Perlite #2 - and I need to get #3 as well - I use it as a drainage layer for AVs- and add it to the soil for streptocarpus -(both #2 and #3) and to the mix for rhizomatous and tuberous gessies - I take the base mix and add #3 and reconstituted NZ sphagnum moss plus a bit of dolomite to off the acidity of moss.

We do not have Promix as well. I know one nursery where they have Promix products - but not BX. More like planter mixes with wetting crystals added.

Beans... - not in my soil mix!

Irina

Thanks, Irina. I don't know if I can manage to translate that into something useful for me but it's a start anyway. I use mixing tubs. I think they are for cement or something and they come from places like Lowe's, Tractor Supply, etc. It's easier to mix in them since they are shallow.

I think that sometimes the perlite gets smashed around. I've noticed this with the smaller kinds especially. That was similar to how P. Bartholomew was using the #3. It is just very large to be the only size, especially for a mini plantlet.

The only things I can go out and buy are what Lowe's might carry and that is quite limited. I might find a bit more in spring but only after hunting and driving a long way. I believe we had something called Sunshine for the planters last year (I don't think that's quite right). I'd been able to find Fafard before but then all they had was #2.

It's frustrating. We have miracle crap and that's about it.

I don't have the soil mealie issue but I worry about broad mites. Thanks for the info.

Diana

Diana -

I agree with you. Whatever Miracle Grow sells - is usually on a lousy side. And if you order something - it is going to be way too expensive because of shipping costs. So -get your Miracle perlite in a colander - and run the hose through it preferrably outside. What's left will be OK, the harmful and useless dust will be gone.

Why do you think you have broad mites? I very much hope you don't.

Irina

Hi,
I am currently using Cape Cods wicking mix and find it to be an excellent mix. As for lumps, I don't recall finding any in their mix so I just checked and looked for them. NADA.
Fred in NJ

I didn't order the wicking mix. After I posted, I discovered that not every lump was composed of fibers. I'm beginning to suspect that Cape Cod might just have gotten a bad batch of peat. Well, at least one not processed quite right.

Diana

I use a similar treatment like Irena's. I buy the three ingredients by the bale from a farm store. I pour each bag into a large garbage container on wheels and leave them on the back porch during winter, rolling them in for unfreezing if a batch is necessary.

I pour gallons of hot water in the peat moss container. It soon dried up in the sun in summer but at least it has been pre-moistened. Then I take up a quantity for a small container when I need to repot. This is moisten overnight again and I have not trouble with half/dry peat moss.

Lumps that were in the gararbage can disappear easily enough with the two dousings of water.

Nancy