Author Topic: vermiculite (opinions please) (Read 7065 times)

no ideas man · « **on:** April 18, 2006, 09:51:15 AM »

Hi fellow members
I would like your opinions I have read somewhere or heard it on the tele that it is possible to germinate seeds using vermiculite as the sowing medium what do you think i would like to give it a try.The seed I will be sowing are Cosmos & dahlias I will post results good or bad at a later date

Noideasman

greenfinger · « **Reply #1 on:** April 18, 2006, 11:17:38 AM »

Do you mean pure vermiculite?

no ideas man · « **Reply #2 on:** April 18, 2006, 12:07:10 PM »

Hi Greenfinger
Yes it is my intention to use just Vermiculite, on the bag( re instructions ) it says seed can be sown in just vermiculite so I am going to give it a try. Let you know how I get on.

Happy Gardening

Harry

greenfinger · « **Reply #3 on:** April 18, 2006, 10:33:06 PM »

Hello no ideas man, I just read the Chinese put their plants in dust and other material we wouldn't use and they get good results. But isn't there a higher price attached at vermiculite compared with potting soil?

no ideas man · « **Reply #4 on:** April 19, 2006, 08:58:06 AM »

hi greenfinger
i agree with you the going price for vermiculite is £3-12 a bag. other views from members are some for some against, I am going to try the vermiculite method and will post results after

Noideasman

Harry

greenfinger · « **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2006, 10:33:30 AM »

Harry, I think it is worth the try. Trial is part of the gardening game.
Could vermiculite be reusable?

no ideas man · « **Reply #6 on:** April 19, 2006, 10:41:14 AM »

hi greenfinger
I don't really know if the vermiculite would be reusable it would probably need sterilizing and I don't know how it would be done it's worth a try. Perhaps other members would know how to do it

Noideasman

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #7 on:** April 19, 2006, 08:15:30 PM »

It will be a very good experiment to see how well the seed germinate in the vermiculite.
What seed do you intend to sow for the trial Harry?

no ideas man · « **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2006, 08:33:40 AM »

hi george
the seed I will be using are Dahlia Bishops Children & Cosmos Cosmic orange I will post results as and when good or bad.I will take photographs and attach them to an email

happy gardening

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #9 on:** April 22, 2006, 11:27:51 PM »

Looking forward to the results!

If you are emailing photos to me, please use the following email address Harry:
ideasguy@gmail.com

I have a very small disk space limit on my ideasforgardens email account, and it only take a few photos to block it.
The gmail account is very generous, and its free.

no ideas man · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2006, 11:58:54 AM »

Hi George
The little trial i did using vermiculite as been a great success. I just used 1 pkt of seed for The vermiulite trial Cosmos (var cosmic orange) but a word of warning here i think the seed needs to be checked 2/3 times a day I normally check all seed once a day, now yesterday I checked the seed tray (nothing) this morning when I checked the seed was 1/2" high, now the seed will have to be pricked out asap as there is no food value in vermiculite Photos to follow

happy gardening

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #11 on:** April 23, 2006, 09:30:43 PM »

That was fast germination Harry! The vermiculite certainly works for that test, and they jumped up real quick!
Will you wait for a pair of true leaves before you transplant?

greenfinger · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2006, 09:37:52 PM »

Comment ça? That seed has already germinated? When exactly did you sow it, Harry?

no ideas man · « **Reply #13 on:** April 24, 2006, 08:16:18 AM »

Hi George & Greenfinger
Believe it or not the seed was sown on 20/4/06 it as really surprised me, as to the pricking out this will be done hopefully today all things being equal I don't wait for the true leaves to develope if you would like to know my method I will post details

Happy gardening

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #14 on:** May 04, 2006, 12:02:39 AM »

Heres the photo you sent me by email Harry. Congratulations again on mastering the technique!!

First, heres the text you sent with your first email, describing the content of the trays

I have attached a file of a germination trial just finished, would you please give me your opinion. Reading left to right the trays are
1st tray Dahlia Bishops Children seed sown 50/50 mixture compost/vermiculite notice the even growth across the tray
2nd tray Pansy Engelmans Mixture compost topped off with Perlite slightly uneven growth but not to bad
3rd tray Cosmos gazebo 50/50 mixture compost/vermiculite again pretty even growth across the tray
4th tray Cosmos Cosmic Orange Pretty good germination across the tray but compared to tray 3 the growth is spindly but seedlings are still usable but must be pricked out asap

Over to our members to comment.

ideasguy · « **Reply #15 on:** June 22, 2006, 10:54:09 AM »

Ive found an unlikely source for buying vermiculte and perlite.
Builder suppliers. Its used by builders for insulation, lining chimneys!
Heres some info
http://www.william-sinclair.co.uk/industri.nsf/Chimneys?OpenPage&Click=

Its supplied in large 100 litre bags. It has to be a lot cheaper than buying small quantities from Garden Centres.
I bought a large bag of each on Saturday.
Its my second bag of perlite, but first of vermiculite.
I use the perlite for mixing with general purpose compost. Its very light and gives drainage in pots.

no ideas man · « **Reply #16 on:** June 29, 2006, 03:42:10 PM »

Hi george
just a word of warning on finding the vermiculite at the builders merchants, I have just been watching Gardeners world on tele it was an old program hosted by Geoff Hamilton he aws taking cutings of clematis the compost was a 50/50 mixture of compst and vermiculite he then said something that made me think I had better add this post, he said " be sure to use horticultural vermiculite not the one used for insulation" no reason was given, maybe there are added chemicals anyway I thought I would let you know.

No IdeasMan

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #17 on:** June 29, 2006, 07:27:37 PM »

Oh DEAR!!
Anybody like a BIG bag of vermiculite!

Good to hear from you again Harry. I was beginning to get worried aboiut you.

Have you got those plants in the vermiculite planted out yet? How's the garden?

no ideas man · « **Reply #18 on:** June 30, 2006, 09:19:21 AM »

Hi George
The annual dahlias ( Bishops Children ) were planted out in may and hopefully will be flowering in the next 2/3 weeks.

Happy gardening

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #19 on:** June 30, 2006, 11:18:05 PM »

Just looked back over this thread Harry, and then looked up the other plants in your vermiculite trials photo.

Cosmos Gazebo:
http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/us/en/product/2026/1
Height 24ins
Did you sow this mixed packet?

Cosmos Cosmic Orange
http://www.prairiestarflowers.com/cosmos_cosmic_orange.htm
Height 14ins

I like these dwarf Cosmos plants. Very useful. What stage are the plants in that photo now?
Have you grown them before?

no ideas man · « **Reply #20 on:** July 01, 2006, 09:48:28 AM »

Hi George
The cosmos I grew in the little trial I did were given to a fellow gardener and I have not seen them recently but I would expect them to be at the same stage of growth as the dahlias in my garden. Don't give up on the vermiculite do a few trials with it and post results it may be ok to use.

Happy Gardening

Harry

ideasguy · « **Reply #21 on:** July 02, 2006, 09:57:55 AM »

Ive already used some Harry.
I always surface sow, then give a light covering of compost where required by the instructions.

I used the new vermiculite to cover the seeds of the last tray I had surface sowed, but not covered.
One half of the tray was Tagetes, the other -YOUR Bowles Black.

It didnt do any harm! The Tagetes are up, some transplanted, some planted outside. The Bowles Black are a little slower, but Ive a few pricked out and potted up.

no ideas man · « **Reply #22 on:** July 03, 2006, 08:41:05 AM »

Hi george
That's great, perhaps we should not always believe all we see and hear just to break the rules occasionally is a good thing that is what trials and things are all about don't you agree.

Happy gardening

Harry

greenfinger · « **Reply #23 on:** September 15, 2006, 10:27:05 AM »

Has anyone experience with perliet or perlite? What's the use of it and how is it used best?
Thanks for enlightening a very old gardener.