so many resources i can find (not organic per se) recommend fertilizing seedlings at half strength once they are strong enough to be pulled out of the starter tray and into a cell-pack. not wanting to use miracle-grow, what would be good to use? we haven't yet found the space for a true compost pile, so i can't make my own tea -- is it worth buying a bag of mushroom compost or whatever at the store and making tea from that? any other great suggestions of what to use? or do i not need to worry about it, so long as they will be in well-ammended soil once they go to the garden?

thanks!!!

-adam-

Brewing up your own mushroom tea is a great idea! But, I think a simpler way to go might be to get yourself a fish/kelp emulsion (numerous garden centers carry it or you can get in online & through gazillion catalogs). And you can get the cold-pressed fish emulsion which doesn't have any odor.

I don't feed them immediately when I'm transplanting my seedlings from plugs into cells. Their little roots need to "calm" down from all that jostling around and getting acclimated to their new "surroundings". Once that's done, there's an initial watering (bottom watering only of kinda warmish or room temp water - not cold). The second watering is with a 1/2 strength of the emulsion. I keep that up till they're moved into the greenhouse and once they go into the ground, then they get real grown-up compost to play in!

I continue to foliar feed them the fish/kelp diluted to full strength about every 2 weeks or so. Depending on weather, disease, etc.

gardenz

depends on the soil you use. The Natural Beginnings soil I use has enough nutrients to see them through till transplant. Average peat based seed starters, however, will need a mild fertilizer. Get some compost and make a tea, or buy an organic fertilizer and apply lightly.

so i am trying to make my own compost tea. i wanted to start right away and couldn't track down the pumps, etc to make it aerated. so this first batch is old school - a bunch of compost in a bucket of water. i'm stirring it as often as i think about it.

so this morning i head down to give it a stir and it STINKS!!!!!! like sulfer / rotten eggs / poo. it started out (of course) smelling nice and compost-y, dirt-y. i guess this means its doing something, but should it smell this bad? will it go past this stage and smell better again, is it ruined, or is this just the way it will smell?

THANKS from a compost-tea newbie! (ie i did poke around a bit online and on this forum to try and get an answer but couldn't find anything definitive.)

-adam-

Even the stinky compost tea is good for your plants, just a little hard on the nose. Sounds like the compost wasn't all finished when you put it in.