Soil advice
Jane McGary via pbs (Tue, 20 Oct 2020 20:16:05 PDT)
David, I strongly recommend not using any perlite or other synthetic
products in your bulb soil. These products have no nutritional value and
are likely to wash to the surface. I also recommend against using peat,
because when you give your plants the necessary summer drying, it will
be hard to rehydrate the peat. If you can, keep things simple. The pH is
not particularly important; you don't need to raise the pH as long as
you provide ample fertilizer (I use soluble Miracle-Gro "root and bloom"
formula). Since you apparently have no source of natural organic matter,
you can use a good potting soil such as Black Gold or Miracle-Gro for
that component. I grow mostly what you're thinking about growing, and my
soil mix is 2 parts coarse sand (quarts and basalt origin), 1 part
ground pumice, and 1 part organic matter. For the organic I used to use
forest topsoil, but I no longer have a deciduous woodland, so I just use
potting soil. Granite grit is also a good amendment, as is quarter-ten
crushed rock.
Jane McGary, Portland, oregon, USA
On 10/20/2020 3:58 PM, D V Andres via pbs wrote:
Hi,
I'm new to growing bulbs from seed. Currently I'm sourcing a cubic yard of
soil for a raised garden bed which I'll line with plastic planters and back
fill. I'll be growing a few Fritillaria, Calochortus, Iris, species along
along with others all native to the the Pacific Northwest. What I'm
considering is a 50/50 mix of a seed starting soil from a company called
Grab N Grow out of Santa Rosa that contains peat moss, perlite, 1/8″ minus
red lava sand, blood meal, bone meal, kelp meal, greensand, dolomite 10,
Azomite™, gypsum, oyster shell flour, and soil sulfur and mixing with 3/8''
minus or number 3 sand. The premix soil is pH neutral and sterile and I can
buy it in bulk. If I go this option I wonder if I should add granite sand
or lava rock sand, etc. My other option is to mix 50/50 3/8'' minus sand
with peat moss but I'm not sure if the PH would be ok for seeds. Any
suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
David Andres
Angwin, CA
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