What percentage of pine fines is in your GM?

The seeds I'm going to start (Agastache Rupestris 'Apache Sunset') prefer dry rocky fast draining soil, so that'll save a repot.

The mix I was going to make for them is 25% fines, 25% partially decomposed fines, 25% grit and 25% turfAce.

I didn't really measure....I just go by look and texture now. But I'd say the mix is 50% sifted fines (1/4 inch), 25% Perlite, 20% Turface, and the remainder red lava rock and some quartzite. I meant to add a dash of Osmocote, but I forgot.

Josh

I've been starting seeds in straight pumice. They are so much easier to prick out. Then you can pot them up into whatever or use a dribble and mud them into place.

As long as the temperature required to germinate a particular seed is achieved it is not important how it is reached, a heat pad is just convenient.

I vote for slick marketing, I too hate the stuff. I now use a similar mix as greenman and seedling problems have all disappeared.

Most seed starting mix I've bought has been mostly peat, which is very hard to keep moist. My favorite seed starting mix is made by Miracle Gro. I ran out of it, so I just start my seeds in Miracle Grow Potting mix. They start in it just as well.

I use something similar to Josh/greenman without the pumice/lava rock. Those are hard to come by here and I reserve them for specific plants. I cover the mix with a thin layer of coconut fines or pine fines to help preserve moisture. I have three level shelf (home made) with CFLs. Except the bottom shelf the other two get warmed up during the ON hrs of the light. CFLs generate quite a bit of heat. This does accelerate the germination process. Most of my vege seeds germinate in 7-14 days. The ones with tougher seed coat germinate around 10-20 days period. I do not scarify or nick them - I am too lazy for that.

I use PRO Mix HP with a little perlite added at 3:1 ratio to
make a 50/50(Peat/Perlite) mix. Seeds are surface sown with a covering of grit (Perlite,Pumice,Sand,
or Granite Grit)at about 1.5 times seed
thickness. This keeps seed in humid environment and stems drier after
germination. Eliminate grit for seeds
that require light for germination such as Sage Brush, Lettuce, etc. Subirrigate by capillary action or lightly mist from above as needed(usually at the 90% of container water capacity weight point or 10% weight loss). Pretreat
seeds as needed to break dormancy (Scarification, Cold Treatment, Smoke Water, etc).

Hot Water Method: Good for Seeds with hard seed coats such
as Lupines, Acacia, Black Locust etc. Plant the Swollen seeds, and retreat
unswollen seeds.

Capillary Bed ,Pregermination, and Hot Water Seed Treatment Examples

Sidenote: Received some
acorns this Jan, from CA Coastal Live Oak and CA Interior Live Oak. Placed acorns in container of water to select viable ones (sinkers). Removed Viable Acorns,Placed Acorns in a Baggie with Slighly Moist
Peatmoss. Check weekly for Germination ( root starting to emerge). Placed
Germinates on surface of soil mix 50/50 Peat/Perlte in tree tubes, and mulched
with Perlite to just cover acorn. Seedlings are about 4in now doing great. Fertigate
with 30ppm N with 18-18-22 for now, started fertigation about 3 weeks after sprouting. Large size of acorn supplies nutrients for a while to seedling.

Dale, you are much more systematic than I am. You are right some seeds can have very tough coating and require special treatment. I grow mainly vege from seeds. Some like winter/ash gourd can be tough. I just received some seeds of that and I am going to pre-soak them in hot water.

mblan13: I used to use those seed starting mixes. They tend to be very wet with the possibility of damp-off. Later I mixed in a bit of perlite and that improves the situation a lot. For the past few years I have been using the modified 511. More like 311 with pine bark sifted to 1/4" and all dust screened.

tropic, I had some Arroyo Lupine seeds, just rubbed seeds between 2 sheets of sandpaper. Then soaked them, planted the swelled seeds. Repeated on unswelled seeds. Many seeds have protection for scattered germination periods over many seasons. I just have many seeds with unknown dormancy. Manzanita is the toughest. Was going to try my daughter's rock tumbler with some sand for scarification of large lots of seeds. As far as vegetables Lettuce seems very picky about temp range and sowing depth. Not sure which Vegetable Seeds are more heat sensitive. The water is usually cooled to 200 to 180 F before using. It would surface sterilize the seed also, to prevent diseases.

Addtion:

It seems that Cucurbits are temp Sensitive. May have to use physical scarification on the squashes(Sandpaper of small File).

Some Extra Seed Treatment Info on Cold
Stratification without medium ,that might be useful for Seed Propagators. Works good for smaller seeds like Giant Sequoia. This is from the “Raising Forest Tree Seedlings at Home” Manual .
Techniques can be used for other seeds also.

2.2.1 Naked Stratification

This method is best for larger quantities of seeds (more
than a handful or two).Start by putting seeds into a bridal mesh or cheesecloth
bag. A square piece of mesh, with seeds placed in the center,can be tied to form
a crude bag (Figure 2.13). Don’t put more than a half pound of seeds per bag.
Label it. Place the bag into a bucket and allow water to run through it for
48 hours. This allows seeds to absorb sufficient water to start metabolic
processes necessary for germination, and running water removes fungal spores. After
soaking,allow the bag to drip dry for a minute or so and suspend it
within a plastic bag( Figure 2.14). Hang the bag in your refrigerator for the
required time. Check it often for mold. If mold is
present, gently rinse the seeds in running water and rehang in the refrigerator.

Good info, Dale. You seem to be into this. I usually cold stratify outside for the few seeds I do. And that too just put them in a ziplock bag and store it along with my grilling supplies on my back porch. Most germinate but I have not done any systematic experiment to find out.

Harmless centipede. Likes to hide under pots, stones, bricks.

Oh my thank you so much. They looked like it but I've never seen brown centipedes