DE for seed starting?

[Arlithrien]

I recently bought a bag of "Stall Dry" from tractor supply, which I mistakenly thought was "Dry Stall" aka Pumice. Stall Dry turns out is very fine diatomaceous earth. Besides using it as cat litter I was wondering if it had any merit as a seed starting mix?

Currently using microwaved potting soil and the mold is just too aggressive even with a fan. I found 8822 DE to be too heavy for seeds to poke out of so I figure this might work. There's some discussion on other websites about it but not much.

Here's some pictures of my experiment. I planted some 2-3 Japanese maple seeds per square, removed the embryos from their seed coats to see if that made any difference in germination.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Coarse mixes for seedlings tend to have the issue that one large taproot is sent down and it only spreads at the bottom of the pot.
This means you'll have to get in there at some point and adjust for that.
Not an ideal situation, but it works.

If you microwave potting soil, you leave it basically desinfected. This allows newly introduced fungi to thrive. It's better to keep the original balance. It has terrible drainage, but you can always mix it with coco coir, peat, perlite. Peat on itself is a good germination medium too, the acidity keeps some pathogens at bay.

 

[sorce]

Yeah it sounds like all the good homies got nuked!

If they sprout in it, I don't think there's a better starting media for a seed.

Sorce