Is there an affordable medium for growing salad leaves, orientals etc?

I want to grow more salad leaves, orientals, Pak Choy, lettuce type crops in the greenhouse. Is there an affordable commercial growing medium such as Coir or maybe one of the budget multi-purpose composts (Wickes, B&Q or Lidl?) that will give me decent germination and growth rates without breaking the bank?

 

Any multi purpose will do the job.
I've used wickes and b&q in the past, however, i wasn't impressed with wickes last year.
I use whatever multibuy is cheapest, usually from one of the local garden centres.

 

I've decided to delve into hydroponics and think lettuce and other greens would be a great launching point. Water as a medium would be so affordable. Just add nutrients and away you go!

 

Forgot to mention that any soil based medium is cheap in the long run if you sterilize it, amend and reuse it over and over. I use potting soil for all of my hot peppers and hanging pots. And late October I am roasting the medium over a wood fire for next year's use.

When you think about it, no farmer grows a crop , then removes the soil down to 12 inches or so for the entire field and buys new.

So why is reusing your medium in pots etc, any different?

Get it, use it, and reuse it

 

At one time some soil or as some call it, dirt, would be taken from the garden, sieved and put on pots or trays for seed sowing. or. An area in the garden or plot would be selected, dug over raked and firmed having removed large stones etc. Now things are different.
Thankfully for gardening forums such as this. Members can and do exchange their views and experiences of using loads of different bags of compost. Just because a marketed product carries a famous name. Don't be fooled.
Some gardeners have found that a compost they bought was little more than factory floor sweepings. Some composts stick closer to the JI compost formula. If you have found a particular good one, then stick to it. For seed sowing, please don't go all technical and start delving into pH values and all that. Seed sowing in general simply requires the seed to be in an enviroment that will allow germination. So an area that is reasonably stable, has a moisture retentive ability. I recall my childhood days.. The local hardware shop. The owner wore bulls eye lens specs and often wore his specs on his forehead. He was a mean old sod and often cheated the customer. One day he cheated me and my cousin. So leaving the dhop, we nicked a packet of carrot seed. Arriving home.....now what? So the packets were dropped down the area, as the house had a basement. In time.....such a miracle. Look dad, carrots are growing outside.

Bacl to composts. I go through my GH and chuck the deaduns out. Let the weather get to the compost and in time reuse.

 

We do call it dirt over here. I try to translate when posting and refer to it as soil whilst posting here.

But, poppycock. Garden dirt is nothing like potting soil or compost. It works as well but dirt is heavy and not suitable for container growing. It is unforgiving to delicate plants. Been there and whilst successful with the growing during my first year or two, found it unwieldy.

 

Hi,

As already mentioned, rebranded compost from the popular outlets can vary in quality year on year.

Brands like Levingtons Original and Westlands Jacks Magic may cost a pound or so a bag extra but well worth it imho.

 

Hi,

Often thought about it for the toms etc, but when looking it always seemed a bit over the top for a few plants.
Also, a fair bit of web comment from folk using hydro that the produce is rather bland tasting, where we generally grow to improve the taste.

Just been looking at doing a simple diy version of these AutoPots watering which seem based on the simple ebb and flow system.
Home | AutoPot Watering Systems UK

Think you need to start a new thread to show your hydro journey... be interesting to follow.

 

oops, sorry @ricky101 I wasn't trying to hijack your thread. Just thought water counted as another cheap medium for growing. I'll bow out

 

I use seed sowing compost, whether a branded name or some I've created myself, seed seems to germinate better in a LOW nutrient medium, once established, seedlings can (not always) be transplanted, parsnips and carrots etc are an exception (deep rooted veg).

 

Hi @CanadianLori,

Sorry , really was not my intention to appear to push you out at all.

Just that your venture into hydroponics sounded like it could be a very interesting, informative and lengthy subject deserved of its own thread / title as it could easily be lost to others under this threads title.

 

I agree @ricky101 , come on @CanadianLori start a thread and walk us through it. I'd love to learn more
It's a really interesting topic, one I know zero about but would love to learn

 

I'm just at the dreaming/planning stage but I will share what I learn

Part of my reasin for thinking in,this manner is that soil is messy indoors and I presently have a couple hundred seedlings going in soil blocks or mini pots... imagine the sweeping I have to do to keep tidy, just to have a chance at growing in our short season.

Or I may decide that growing romaine lettuce and things just shouldn't take up outdoor real estate and, well, I'll see.

Ive just decided to play

Well, heck, I've got to do something in between shivering and shoveling