Tag: Greenhouse Management

Burbank’s Seed Germination Mix

The famous plant breeder Luther Burbank planted millions of seeds over his lengthy career. This is his favorite potting mix. Seeds were started in flats then transplanted to experimental gardens in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol.

50% coarse sand

40% topsoil = rotted turf or forest soil

10% peat moss

1% to 2% bone meal

Total = 101% to 102% by volume

Mix until uniform

For 1 bushel = 8 gallons use 1.25 to 2.5 cups of bone meal

[Original formula dated 1914 from Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California]

Related Publications:  Burbank’s Grafting Wax; Cow Manure Potting Soil; Dutch Potting Soil; Hot versus Cold Composting.

Would You Like to Know More?  For more information on greenhouse management and potting soils, please visit: www.worldagriculturesolutions.com – or – send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com – or – send your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America.

About the Author:  Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during summer and Florida over winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).

Index Terms:  Greenhouse Management; Potting Soils.

Original Publication Date:  April 2008, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania.

Update:  October 2023, Evans City, Pennsylvania.

Posted on by Eric Koperek 0

Dutch Potting Soil

Historical Note:  This formula was perfected by Dutch horticulturalists in the 16th century. (The first written record in German is dated 1511). Just about any commercial greenhouse crop will grow in this mix called “One-One-One” or written 1-1-1.

How To Do It:  Following is the original recipe for the standard greenhouse potting mix used for the past 500 years. This mix contains only natural ingredients and so is suitable for “organic” production.

1 part “well-rotted turf” = topsoil.

1 part coarse sand.

1 part peat moss.

Total = 3 parts by volume.

Topsoil provides nutrients and biology. Coarse sand provides aeration and drainage. Peat moss holds water. Work components through a 1/2 inch screen before mixing. Use level not heaping measures. Pack peat firmly to get true volume.

How to Prepare Topsoil:  Use a spade to cut grass sod into blocks. Stack turf upside down to kill grass. Sod pile can be any convenient dimensions. Cover turf with straw or other mulch to keep soil moist and prevent weeds. Let sod compost for at least 6 months before use. For long term storage sow pile with a multiple species cover crop to keep soil “lively”.

Special Purpose Potting Mixes:

Fern Mix:  Add 1 extra part of peat moss.

(1 earth + 1 sand + 2 peat = 4 total parts by volume).

Cacti Mix:  Add 1 extra part of sand.

(1 earth + 2 sand + 1 peat = 4 total parts by volume).

Geranium Mix:  Add 1 extra part of topsoil.

(2 earth + 1 sand + 1 peat = 4 total parts by volume).

Earthworm Friendly Mix:  Substitute composted hardwood bark or composted wood chips for sand. Sand is abrasive; earthworms do not like soils with more than 10% sand.

(1 earth + 1 composted bark + 1 peat = 3 parts by volume).

Hand Mixing:  Layer ingredients on top of a potting bench: Peat moss on bottom, Topsoil in middle, then Sand on top. Sprinkle lime and fertilizer (if needed) over sand. Mix with a garden fork or flat spade. Slide fork or spade under pile then lift up and shake. Work from one end of the pile to the other end. Repeat 3 times until mixture is uniform. This is the easiest way to mix large quantities of potting soil by hand. (Layering by density uses gravity to make work easier. Heavy ingredients sift down through tines of fork or fall off edge of spade. The process of shaking a fork or spade to mix ingredients is called “feathering”).

Fertilizer:  The traditional greenhouse fertilizer is 1% or 2% bone meal by volume. For 1 bushel = 8 gallons of potting soil add 1.25 to 2.5 cups of organic fertilizer to the mix. For vegan potting soil substitute earthworm castings, cottonseed meal, or weed seed meal.

Substitutions:  If you do not have topsoil use clay subsoil sifted through a 1/2 inch screen. If sand is not available use any other aggregate or substitute composted hardwood bark or composted wood chips. If there is no peat use compost, leaf mold, composted manure, or composted sawdust.

Raised Beds:  To fill raised beds cheaply mix 1 part screened subsoil + 1 part wood chips + 1 part manure = 3 total parts by volume. Seed immediately with a multi-species cover crop. Let cover crop grow a full year before planting cash crops. Roots, earthworms, symbiotic fungi, and beneficial bacteria transform dead dirt into live topsoil.

Related Publications:  Burbank’s Grafting Wax; Burbank’s Seed Germination Mix; Cow Manure Potting Soil; Hot versus Cold Composting.

Would You Like to Know More?  For more information on greenhouse management and potting soils, please visit: www.worldagriculturesolutions.com – or — send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com – or — send your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America.

About the Author:  Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during summer and Florida over winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).

Index Terms:  1-1-1 (potting mix); Cacti Potting Mix; Dutch Potting Mix; Fern Potting Mix; Geranium Potting Soils; Greenhouse Management; Potting Mixes; Raised Beds; Vegan Potting Mix.

Original Publication Date:  March 1976 Meyersdale, Pennsylvania.

Update:  October 2023, Evans City, Pennsylvania.

Posted on by Eric Koperek 0

COW MANURE POTTING SOIL

When I was a boy, everyone told me that manure must be composted before use. The alternative was land application in fall so dung could “mellow” over winter. “Never use fresh manure or bad things will happen”. Confident in my wisdom, I carried this lesson with me to India where I promptly discovered that everything I had been taught was WRONG. My little world was turned upside down. Since then, I have developed a healthy skepticism of advice from die Experten.

Most Indian forests were cut down centuries ago. Consequently, there is a great shortage of firewood. Dried cow manure is widely used as a substitute fuel.

Women shape fresh manure into disks about the size of a round cake pan. The “cow pies” are slapped up against a mud brick wall where they stick and dry in the sun. 3 days of intense Indian heat bakes the manure into dehydrated cakes that are stacked and sold in local village markets.

Half of India eats food cooked over cow manure fires. Many of the vegetables are also grown in dried cow manure. The process is simple: Crumble dried manure with your hands. Fill raised beds or containers with cow manure “potting soil”. Poke in some seeds or transplants. Add water and wait for Mother Nature to work her biological miracles.

Everything grows. Nothing fails. There are no weeds or bugs. No tools or machinery are needed, and you do not have to buy fertilizer or chemicals. There is no work other than planting, watering, and harvesting.

I have been using dehydrated cow manure for the better part of a century now, and I still do not understand how it works. My guess is that hot sunlight “cooks” or pasteurizes manure yielding a rough, instant compost that grows anything from bananas to watermelons.

I used to mix great piles of sand, peat, and earth to make potting soil. Now, I get manure from my neighbor and dry it on screens in a glasshouse. My operating costs have dropped significantly and I no longer have to worry about nematodes, crop rotation, or “sick greenhouse syndrome”. All plants are grown in freshly dried manure. Crops wastes and old “soil” are spread on gardens or fields. Insect and disease cycles are permanently broken.

I work in my hoop houses without gloves, respirator, or moon suit. I do not have to worry about chemicals in my food or my lungs. At my age, that is a considerable benefit.

So far, I have not found a “down side” to sun dried cow manure. It is far superior and much less costly than any potting soil I can buy or make.

Related Publications: Biological Agriculture in Temperate Climates; Burbank’s Seed Germination Mix; Dutch Potting Soil; Hot Versus Cold Composting; Swamp Potatoes; Wildcrafted Potatoes; Worm Farming.

Would You Like to Know More? For more information about composting or greenhouse management, please visit: http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com — or — send your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America — or — send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com.

About the Author: Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during summer and Florida over winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).

Index Terms: Ayurvedic Agriculture; Cow Manure; Crop Rotation; Greenhouse Management; Insect Control; Nematode Control; Potting Soil; Sick Greenhouse Syndrome; Weed Control.

Original Publication Date: February 2005, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania.

Updated: June 2023 Venus, Florida.

Posted on by Eric Koperek 1