Viewing post #727278 by RickCorey

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Nov 3, 2014 3:33 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
It's all good advice above, but it's hard to know without feeling the soil and seeing the roots.

The fact that plants suffered obviously and severely within just 48 hours is a big clue that narrows down the problem to something serious. and fast-acting.

Because I personally tend to overwater seedlings, I always suspect that first. Is it possible that you're watering them more than they need? Or, even more likely, the soil mix may hold too much water because it is too fine a blend (particles and fibers are too small).

A fine mix makes the air spaces very small and easily filled up with water. Even a little water in a very fine mixture fills the tiny air spaces. The fine mix tends to hold water in capillary films coating each particle and filling most of the air spaces.

The bad thing about that is that it keeps fresh air from diffusing into the soil. The roots need fresh air (oxygen) since they need to "breath" or they quickly drown and die - even in just 48 hours.

If the soil mix feels wet to the touch, and yet water does not drain out the bottom quickly when you water heavily, the mix probably holds too much water and needs faster drainage. People have suggested Perlite, and if you have access to that, look for the coarsest you can find.

Adding coarse particles to a fine mix improves drainage and aeration. Even better would be starting with a mix that does NOT have as much fine stuff! If you can remove dust, powder and fine fibers from a mix, it will be less likely to drown your roots.

Crushed stone (grit) is also good for improving drainage. Particle size around 2-3 mm is good.

"Coarse sand" is probably finer than you really want for improving drainage, but if lots of it is bigger than 1-2 mm, it may improve your drainage. "VERY fine gravel" might be helpful, as long as it's almost all smaller than 5 mm.

My favorite way to make a cheap potting mix drain much faster is to add quite a lot of screened, ground-up bark. I know that pine, fir or balsam bark work well. You'll probably have to screen it yourself and maybe grind it yourself, if it is available at all. The best sizes are 2-3 mm. If you can get bark chips or fibers around 1 mm thick and 4-5 mm long, that would be great.

Mainly, if you grind bark and screen it, get RID of as much small stuff as you can. You don't want bark dust or fine fibers if the cheap potting mix you start with is already prone to be waterlogged.

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