>> Use a good germinating mix ... peat-based... Use a capillary mat
I'm sure that everyone keeps using the kind of soil mix that works well with their habits and tendencies.
And most people seem to find the very strongly water-retaining fine peat commercial mixes workable for them. And they would probably work better for me if I changed my habits and tendencies 100%. Bottom-watering, watering much less, and commerical capilary mats probably all make the "soggy mixes" less soggy and less anaerobic than they are when I've used them in the past.
But 3 years of killing many seeds that way, seeing terrible root pentration and sickly sprouts, followed by one year of improvement and then a year of very good success with everything except petunias, convinces me that faster-draining mix is what I want.
It's easier to change my seedling mix than it is to completely change my habits and preferred method of working. Three years of trying to stop overwatering only met limited success.
And pine bark mulch is probably 4 times cheaper than any pro mix: can you beat 2 cubic feet for $8? And I can use almost the same mix for starting seeds or potting up, and when I plant out, it still has the coarse texture that I wnat to ameend my rasied beds with, instead of fine powder.
So it works for me (except for last year's petunias, which i expect to fix with a thin top layer of fine vermiculite).
On the other hand, cotton flannel in the bottom of the trays is making SOME bottom watering acceptable to me. And it also makes me more confortable doing what I consider to be "UNDER watering". I might even splurge on the fancy commercial cap mats one of these years.
Who knows? In time I might even develop GOOD watering habits and find that I CAN use the much more expensive powdery seed starting mixes if I want to.
But I bet my home-brew screened pine bark based mix still makes better potting mix than any commerical product twice the price.
