Planting seeds in John Innes no 3 - horrible mistake?

[Growem]

I realised I bought John Innes number 3 compost rather than seed compost by mistake. I understand there's far more nutrients in the #3 than seed compost, but will it prevent all my seeds from sprouting or just make them a bit leggy at first or what?

[rustylady]

They should sprout OK. I don't like John Innes myself, except for mature plants in large pots. It's a bit to "heavy".

[spud57]

rustylady
if you do not use john innes for seeds, what do you use instead?

[Norm]

I tried JI composts once, nearly 30 years ago. I felt like I was trying to get my plants to grow in wet cement, so I made my own peat-based compost. 10 years ago I started buying off the shelf stuff. Never looked back.

[piskieinboots]

any chance of the recipe Norm - I have just used JI and I so agree with the 'wet cement'

[Nicos]

rustylady
if you do not use john innes for seeds, what do you use instead?

John Innes 1 for seeds and John Innes 3 for established plants.
I was told that the '3' indicates 3 times as much nutrients??

No 1 is nice and light so the seedlings don't have to push their delicate roots and shoots past lumps of compost.

In fact it'll be more like sowing directly into a prepared bed on the lottie/garden- don't worry about it too much if you've already used it.

If not, will they swap them?? ( another chance to wander round and buy more stuff- boy what an excuse!!!!

[pigletwillie]

John Innes is soil based and perfect for more established plants. If it goes like wet cement I can only imagine you are watering too much or have restricted drainage.

I sow and pot on all of our seeds in a multi purpose compost with added John Innes and it s main benefit is that it keeps moist longer than ordinary multipurpose compost and re-wets easily too.

John Innes number 3 is for established plants and should be ok for seeds but not a first choice, dont forget, they grow in far worse strata in the wild.

[shirlthegirl43]

My first two years of growing, I sowed seeds in a mix of sieved multi-purpose compost, vermiculite and perlite. After reading on here that this was perhaps not ecologically a good idea, this year I have sowed some seeds in Levington's seed compost. I am quite disappointed with this stuff, it has lumps of stuff nearly as big as those in my multi-purpose compost and needs a good bash about and sieving before I feel it is suitable for seeds. The results have not been great either. Think I might just revert to my old mixture for the rest of my seeds.

[smallblueplanet]

....I sowed seeds in a mix of sieved multi-purpose compost, vermiculite and perlite. After reading on here that this was perhaps not ecologically a good idea....

Which bits aren't ecological shirley?

I can see that making a seed compost with (extracted/mined) peat as a base is a no-no.

[Farmer_Gyles]

i use the levingtons multi purpose compost for all the seeds and for potting on - can be a bit lumpy but seeds grow ok
i use growbag compost for the tomatoes when i pot on - found it easier to put the growbag compost in large pots than to juse the growbags

[shirlthegirl43]

Which bits aren't ecological shirley?

I can see that making a seed compost with (extracted/mined) peat as a base is a no-no.

I am sure I read on here that we shouldn't use the vermiculite (memory not always reliable though) so decided to try seed compost. Prefer the texture of my mixture though, nice and fine for the little seedlets.

[piskieinboots]

in a mix of sieved multi-purpose compost, vermiculite and perlite.

now I like the sound of that - will give it a go - or have you slapped a patent pending on it

[shirlthegirl43]

now I like the sound of that - will give it a go - or have you slapped a patent pending on it

Not at all. Half sieved compost, quarter each of the others. Nice and fluffy!

[Cutecumber]

My choice is to use only organic peat-free compost which reduces the options somewhat!

At the moment, I sow in a mix of sustainbly sourced coir and some New Horizon multipurpose (wood based). I can recommend getting your hands in compost if you want to use it for seeds - rub it between your hands and you can break up any lumps and sift out any large chunks. I find this combination light enough for even tiny seeds and just about able to hold enough moisture in a module.

I once used some John Innes no.3 (not out of choice) for some ornamentals and I got the wet cement too...

[Growem]

From what I'm understanding, you are all saying that they will grow, but there are better things out there for seeds. Considering the last set of seeds I started didn't see soil at all until they were well sprouted, only having a wet kitchen paper to keep them going, they might be grateful for something!