non-peat seed starters?

[shireen]

Sorry if this topic has been covered before ... I could not search because 'search' has been disabled due to high level of activity at DU.

Does anyone know of a reliable seed starter or homemade mix that does not use peat? I've been reading up about peat sustainability, and I've seen a lot of conflicting information. There's also conflicting information about using materials like coconut coir and other materials.

Not vegetables. I'm growing native plants for wildlife--insects, birds, small mammals. A lot of plants. This year, I had fairly good success using standard ProMix for starting the seeds.

I've got a lot invested in these seeds so I'll probably use ProMix again for many of them. But I'd like to plant some seed in a non-peat medium to see what happens.

If anyone is interested in native plant gardening, please check out Doug Tallamy's website.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I don't recall where, but I thought there were coconut husk bases out there. nt

On edit, I see that you did mention 'coconut coir', which I'll assume is the same thing.

[jtuck004]

2. This is a cloning machine, built to take cuttings from the top of a plant, hold it

while spraying oxygenated water on the stem that sticks down.

http://www.amazon.com/Site-Aeroponic-Plant-Cloner-Edition/dp/B009JV2XTM%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-d-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB009JV2XTM

You can build your own from a 5 gallon bucket if you can drill the holes. It uses a small submersible pump that sprays water on the bottom of the lid.

There are several pages on the web where people build there own on the web, so google should help, if you would prefer to do that.

The reason I mention this is that you can fill small net cups with Grow Rock (Hydrocorn), Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (L.E.C.A.)
http://www.homehydrosystems.com/mediums/mediums_page.html

Then you set the cups in the hole, place a seed in them, and the water and o2 wick upwards to pop the seed. You then put it into whatever you want to plant into.

Or start them in recycled paper towels on the kitchen counter...