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Old September 30, 2017   #8
ginger2778
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10
Posts: 9,283
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Hi Ron,
Just a few tidbits to offer. I mean this to be constructive. There looks to be a far greater quantity of perlite than you need for growing tomatoes at any stage. For very young plants, much less, maybe only a few pinches in a cup that size would be more than sufficient. For mature plants, about 1/3 to 1/2 that much will do the trick. Perlite has the purpose of making air spaces in the soil so the roots don't get overly soggy, but too much means the roots don't get as much nutrition.
Vermiculite has a sole purpose of retaining moisture, and you want a moist but not drenching wet mix.
Last thing I NEVER feed my starting seedlings at all until they have their furst true leaves, they don't need it. The seed leaves (cotyledons)have all the nutrition they need until the seedlings are about 2 weeks old. It's a waste of money, and too much moisture to add any plant food before that. I hope you find this helpful.
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