Oh what fun it was looking into all the jugs! Spring has sprung, and the seeds know it- a whopping 41 containers are germinating now!
Linda, I meant to say earlier, come on down! If ya make a road trip, I'd love to tour you around the garden!
I've experimented with a few different potting soils the last couple of years, and found some plants like one brand, while others prefer another. Last year I tried some cheap stuff that had a lot of fine bark in it. It was a freely draining mix that I thought may be good for some plants that didn't seem to like the moisture holding capacity of mixes heavy in peat. I found Penstemons did particularly well in it, but other seedlings grew slowly and needed fertilizer while quite small, and didn't perform well in general. This year I've just gone with Miracle Grow, and have noticed that those that didn't perform well in the free draining mix last year are doing exceptionally well this year. I believe that slow release fertilizer in it is a help to wintersown seedlings, and it is nice not to have to worry so much about them drying out. Several Penstemons have germinated in the last couple of days, so I'm going to watch them closely to make sure they're not too moist.
Hmmmm....thinking in the future I may try the free draining stuff again and add Osmocote to it. Or perhaps I may try adding some fine bark to MG mix to allow better drainage.
As things germinate, I'm editing the list above to show the date germinated. I'm keeping better records this year, hoping to compile data for myself and others to give a guideline as far as what to expect from particular plants.
