Grit

aardvaak

Watching TV gardening programs when they sow seeds on a bed of compost then cover with grid.

What happens when you eventually tip the tray on the compost heap - don't you get a lot of grit in your soil?

tanith

There is already a certain amount of grit in the soil and a little more just helps with drainage and won't do any harm..

aardvaak

tanith wrote: »

There is already a certain amount of grit in the soil and a little more just helps with drainage and won't do any harm..

Thank you for your reply

Linda32

I agree, the amount on top of seed trays won't do any harm at all.

A._Badger

Better than grit is seed grade vermiculite. Are you sure that wasn't what they were using?

southerly

Carol Klein used grit in her programme on Friday. I was thinking it looked heavy for the seedlings to have to push up through, and also that stuff is quite expensive!

A._Badger

southerly wrote: »

Carol Klein used grit in her programme on Friday. I was thinking it looked heavy for the seedlings to have to push up through, and also that stuff is quite expensive!

Hmmmm.. Carol Klein, eh?

Do you recall what she was sowing?

southerly

No, can't remember, she did sow primroses and cerinthe, maybe it was the primroses that got the grit on top?

Davesnave

southerly wrote: »

Carol Klein used grit in her programme on Friday. I was thinking it looked heavy for the seedlings to have to push up through, and also that stuff is quite expensive!

The 'cracker' type grit Carol was using, has enough gaps between the particles for seedlings to get through. They are also surprisingly strong, often pushing aside compacted soil in natural, non-gardening germination. Grit is a good thing to discourage the growth of mosses & liverworts on pots of outdoor germinated seed.

As for being expensive.....Well, shall we just say that all around Mid and North Devon, the council has very large roadside dumps of this grit, used for road surfacing, though I have a sneaky feeling that, nowadays, Carol can afford her own.