by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: April 20, 2008   Last Updated: September 24, 2010

Commercial potting soil already prepared for bedding plants takes all the guess work out of bedding plants. But for lots of plants, it is too costly. It is easy - and cheaper -  to create your own lightweight soil to start seedlings: Depending on how much bedding soil you need and where you intend to use it, finding excellent sources of lightweight soil if you live in rural areas will be easy. Go along creek beds or where there are decaying logs and fill your wheelbarrow will light compost that has been preparing itself for such a need. Mix this with a sand from a recent flood overflow and you will have an excellent mixture to start your seedlings.

But not so fast. Once you have enough soil and your mixture is just right, your work is only beginning. You need to sterilize it. Just as a knowledgeable gardener keeps his tools and pots clean and sterilized by washing in a mild clorine bleach mixture, your plants need a sterile environment to begin their growth. And easy way is to leave the mixture in the wheelbarrow covered with securely with clear plastic and let the hot sun kill the weed seeds organisms. Two weeks should be sufficient.

Of course, if you are gardening in a small urban area and you do not have decaying logs and creek banks to gather free potting soil, you will do the next best thing - and the easiest -you will go to gardening shops and purchase a potting mixture already prepared. The instructions will tell you of the ingredients and if the potting soil is right for cactus plants or African violets or whether it is a general all-around mixture.

This soil is designed to make it easy for the delicate seedlings to push up through the soil. If you plant them in regular soil sometimes the soil becomes too hard and the seeds have a hard time breaking through. Again, this all depends on exactly what you are planting. Some seeds such as corn and beans and squash and onions and what have you are hearty and have no such problems sprouting. The main reason most inside gardeners use a commercial mixture to start their plants inside is it is easier and is cleaner and is less time consuming. And too, it is disease free.

It is okay to add sand and compost to the seed beds and start seeds this way. In fact, this is the way most gardeners begin their vegetable gardens each year. Most, weather permitting, will start their seeds in this way and often are planted without too much worry over whether they will come up. Yet, some early bird gardeners still like to start their tomato and pepper plants earlier inside so they will get a head start on an early harvest. Most, however, are bored and are impatient and in February simply cannot wait to begin gardening.

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