Vermiculite
The stuff that’s like hundreds and thousands that you sprinkle over ice cream?
No. Along the same lines but for seeds!
This is Westland’s description of Vermiculite:
‘A naturally occurring, non-toxic aluminium iron silicate that has been heated to a high temperature to produce a lightweight material with a high surface area’
Right. Clear as compost on that then!
The lightweight bit I can vouch for. I picked up a 10 litre bag expecting to be heave ho-ing and it practically floated out of my hand.
Vermiculite didn’t get a name check in every piece of advice I read on seed sowing. Some advice was to cover the seeds with a thin layer of compost. But I thought it would give me or at least my seeds a dusting of professionalism we could use.
Features and benefits (again from the back of the bag) included two of the seed growing principles that came up in all the advice as essential to success.
‘Excellent aeration and water retention properties’
Also
‘Encourages faster germination, improved seedling establishment and unhindered growth when pricking out and potting on’
Yep. Be happy with that.
I think how it works is that it’s very light and yet retains moisture really well. So it keeps the seeds and compost beneath it moist whilst at the same time being a very lightweight material for the seedlings to push their way though on their journey upwards!
So that’s Vermiculite.
As for the stuff you put on ice cream. I checked that out as well.
Turns out it’s Vermicelli which is either a very slender macaroni or more usually short thin pieces of chocolate used for decoration of cakes, sweets etc.
Do you use Vermiculite and if so do you think it makes a difference to the growth and health of your seeds and seedlings?
