I recently germinated 777 Dahlia seeds on paper towel and transferred them to 72 cell trays. The first 3 trays were filled with Searles premium seed raising mix. The remainder were filled with a new back of Scotts Osmocote seed raising mix that I purchased from Bunnings. It wasn't long until there was a clear difference between the two - please see the images. The heathly trays are Searles and as you can see the Scots have burned, twisted and stunted leaves. Bearing in mind each seed was valued at between $1 and $3 each this was a significant loss! I quickly washed the contaminated potting mix off the seedlings and repotted in a new bag of searles that had been bioassay tested. Unfortunately I continued with daily losses and most plants did not survive. From the 777 seedlings I managed to grow 236 most of these were from the Searles mix. I can't believe that I need to bioassay every bag of potting mix/seed raising mix to test if it is fit for purpose! Can you please advise.
Many thanks
Emma Jayne
Hello @EJS
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us and thanks for sharing your question about the seed soil mix.
I'm sorry to hear that the Scotts seed raising mix did not work well with your seedlings. The only suggestion I can make at the moment is to stop using the Scotts Osmocote seed mix and use only the Searls seed mix for the meantime as they seem to be agreeable with your seedlings.
Please allow me to contact you through private messaging so that I can provide you with further assistance.
Eric
thanks Eric
Just a reminder that I've sent you a quick message through private messaging. If you look up on the upper right corner of the webpage you should see a small red dot on the envelope that is next to your profile picture.
Hi Emma,
As a fellow dahlia lover and growing-from-seed gardener, I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for your loss (especially with the costs associated with dahlias!). With that many seeds started, I can only assume you're a flower grower and that you have quite extensive experience with seed raising, so it definitely wasn't anything you did with during the seed raising process. All the best for the rest of the seeds - I'd love to follow your journey and harvest if you're on IG. Best, Elvina.
Hi @EJS,
Just a quick update. Evergreen, the manufacturer of Scotts Osmocote products, has tried to contact you a few times but unfortunately hasn't been able to get through.
We've sent you a private message with details on how you can contact their team directly so they can assist you further.
Mitchell
