John Innes seedling soil to dense?

[DrTentgrow]

Hello Ive recently put some germinated seeds in some little 10cm pots and watered them Ive never done this before the soil seems very dense after watering will the seeds push there way out alright?

 

[flyfishinrock]

hard to say, what is the make-up of the soil? was it purchased or outta the ground?

 

[McBudz]

Perform a small test with the soil. Take a handful of damp soil and squeeze it in your hand then open your fist. Does the soil stay compact like a tightly compact snowball, does it crumble away as if it were a handful of sand or is it slightly holding itself together but will crumble if you were to poke at it with a finger? The last description is ideal. If you are anywhere near the first its probably too tight/compact.

Stay away for these seed starting soils etc. They are mostly sphagnum moss and hold too much water on their own and tend to bring pH down too much

Fox Farm Ocean Forest has the ideal texture. If you don't want to grow with it due to cost etc then at least get a bag or sample of it and try to get something with that texture and consistency and use from seedling to harvest.

I've tried the seed starting mixes and never got great results with them. They do tend to get compact and hold too much water causing dampening off issues with seedlings.

 

[DrTentgrow]

to start with thanks every one for your help. i am using John Innes seedling soil (soil based) mcbudz i tryed your test and i am happy to say your last description was the most accurate to what it was like. i looked at my potted (germinated) seeds this morning and 1 of the seeds have popped out the top of the soil only about 2-3mm but i can see the green bit where the leaves are about to unfold. i hope this is a good sign and the rest will shortly follow. the seeds have been potted for nearly 2 days and i have only watered them once i poked my finger about 1cm deep in the side of the pot and it seems moist enough. oh i forgot to mention i mixed about 10% vermiculite with the seeding soil and the pots are sitting on a bed of vermiculite to help drainage.

here's my grow journal with pictures of them. (type this in the bit where you search for posts (My first grow 2.4m x 1.2m x 2m grow tent 600w HID)

More info on the soil.

 

[McBudz]

You can insert a link like this to make life easier for others to get to your grow:

My First Grow 2.4m x 1.2m x 2m Grow Tent 600w HID

Also I suggest throwing the link in your signature under User CP upper left of the screen to get more traffic to your journal.

to start with thanks every one for your help. i am using John Innes seedling soil (soil based) mcbudz i tryed your test and i am happy to say your last description was the most accurate to what it was like. i looked at my potted (germinated) seeds this morning and 1 of the seeds have popped out the top of the soil only about 2-3mm but i can see the green bit where the leaves are about to unfold. i hope this is a good sign and the rest will shortly follow. the seeds have been potted for nearly 2 days and i have only watered them once i poked my finger about 1cm deep in the side of the pot and it seems moist enough. oh i forgot to mention i mixed about 10% vermiculite with the seeding soil and the pots are sitting on a bed of vermiculite to help drainage.

here's my grow journal with pictures of them. (type this in the bit where you search for posts (My first grow 2.4m x 1.2m x 2m grow tent 600w HID)

More info on the soil.

 

[DrTentgrow]

Cheers mcbudz I'm new to all the forum larky I'm sure I'll get used to every thing soon.