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dice · May 24, 2009

Think about what Mycogrow Soluble is exactly. It is spores for
bacteria and fungi. All that will happen when they get water
is that they will become live organisms, start feeding on organic
matter (and possibly rock in some cases) in the seed starting
mix, container mix, or soil, and (reflexively, in a chemical sense)
try to find a live root to inhabit. If they don't come in contact
with live roots within a few days, they will be short on some
nutrients produced by roots that they need to thrive, and the
microorganisms will die.

The ones that do come in contact with a live root become little
colonies, reproduce, and spread through the roots from one end
to the other.

They cannot burn seedlings themselves, because the MycoGrow
products (and Actinovate, and about a dozen other brands of
similar products) do not contain any chemicals. They cannot
transfer anything from the soil to the plant that has not been
provided to the soil some other way, and their rate of transfer
is entirely organic and natural.

Neptune's Harvest is an unlikely culprit, too, for the reasons
Ami mentioned. One would need to mix it at five times full
strength to get enough concentration to maybe shock a
seedling enough to stunt it. Most people undermix it for
seedlings (maybe teaspoon per gallon, about what the
bottle might suggest for foliar feeding, if it does).

Excessive heat, though, that can do it. So can overwatering
(leaving the seed starting mix with too little air space). So
can any kind of toxic pollutants in the seed-starting mix
or water (too much salt, for example, or an excess of metals
like aluminum, zinc, and so on).

(I looked up flouride once to see if that could be bothering
my seedlings, but the symptoms on those that were struggling
did not really seem to match what one would see from flouride
build up in the soil. It is not so much that the flouride itself
is toxic to the plant as that it blocks uptake of some trace
elements that the plant needs, so what one sees looks like
a deficiency of some other trace element.)

One thing that I see happening occasionally is that the
seed-starting mix becomes a kind of solid block as it dries
out, and then water runs around it and out the bottom without
moistening the soil in the pot. Bottom watering helps with this
problem.

May 24, 2009	#5
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Think about what Mycogrow Soluble is exactly. It is spores for bacteria and fungi. All that will happen when they get water is that they will become live organisms, start feeding on organic matter (and possibly rock in some cases) in the seed starting mix, container mix, or soil, and (reflexively, in a chemical sense) try to find a live root to inhabit. If they don't come in contact with live roots within a few days, they will be short on some nutrients produced by roots that they need to thrive, and the microorganisms will die. The ones that do come in contact with a live root become little colonies, reproduce, and spread through the roots from one end to the other. They cannot burn seedlings themselves, because the MycoGrow products (and Actinovate, and about a dozen other brands of similar products) do not contain any chemicals. They cannot transfer anything from the soil to the plant that has not been provided to the soil some other way, and their rate of transfer is entirely organic and natural. Neptune's Harvest is an unlikely culprit, too, for the reasons Ami mentioned. One would need to mix it at five times full strength to get enough concentration to maybe shock a seedling enough to stunt it. Most people undermix it for seedlings (maybe teaspoon per gallon, about what the bottle might suggest for foliar feeding, if it does). Excessive heat, though, that can do it. So can overwatering (leaving the seed starting mix with too little air space). So can any kind of toxic pollutants in the seed-starting mix or water (too much salt, for example, or an excess of metals like aluminum, zinc, and so on). (I looked up flouride once to see if that could be bothering my seedlings, but the symptoms on those that were struggling did not really seem to match what one would see from flouride build up in the soil. It is not so much that the flouride itself is toxic to the plant as that it blocks uptake of some trace elements that the plant needs, so what one sees looks like a deficiency of some other trace element.) One thing that I see happening occasionally is that the seed-starting mix becomes a kind of solid block as it dries out, and then water runs around it and out the bottom without moistening the soil in the pot. Bottom watering helps with this problem. __________________ -- alias