am I risking burning the babies or is it just a total waste of material?

Yes to both. Just by a plain old seed starting mix - Jiffy Mix works fine if you can't find anything else.

Dave

Thanks Dave, guess I'll be heading over to HD today.

Seeds, by their very nature, have all they need to get a great start on life. I've found that using potting mixes, even those touted as "ideal germination" mixes that have any kind of ferts in them are worse.

FWIW, my fav mix is Ferti-lome, both to sow seedlings in and to use as a transplant mix. Not real cheap - $16 for a 50 quart bag, but IMO well worth it.

Mike

I buy peat by the bale from either Home Depot or Costco if they have it. It takes only one half a bale to fill a 33 gallon garbage can which is where I store it. It contains no fertilizer and is very cheap. Al