Thanks fish!! I kinda liked the hockey pucks cause I just transplanted them in a larger pot.. course i did take the netting off first. I have read some don't like them, but since I live and breathe on my little seedlings LOL.. I was always right on top of things if they needed water, and such
I saw a taller version of the hockey pucks at Wal Mart yesterday and I plan to get a few of them to try. I think for plants like tomatoes and beans they will work well. Going to do some in both peat/coco pots and the hockey pucks to see which does best. I may remove some of the netting and leave some to see how they do if I can.
Morning! fish... that sounds good.... I'll check out my Walmart, and yeah they would be better for those vegies! Keep us posted on your progress! Thanks for that info!
I haven't used coco pots, but I've grown literally thousands of plants in peat pots, which are then directly planted into the garden without any problems. Actually, I've always had the best results using peat pots, because the roots grow through the pot--and aren't disturbed when transplanting. I'd be a little hesitant to cut the put, simply b/c you might cut the roots inside if they aren't already growing through so that you can see them. (Most of the plants I sold at Farmer's Market last year had roots already growing through the pots...it happens quickly!) One important thing about peat pots--you need to tear the top of the pot down to the soil line when planting so that water doesn't "wick" away from the roots. Other than that--mine break down beautifully in the garden. I start all of my seedlings in plastic trays, which I reuse, but I like the fact that I'm not contributing plastic pots to the landfill, especially since I don't know if my customers will be reusing pots or just throwing them away. I'm trying Dot pots for the first time this year--they received organic certification, and I'll let you know how those work! Happy planting! Julie moderator's note: removed website link, see point 1.1 of usage rules
I want to cut them BEFORE planting in them. No way would I want to cut them afterwards. would make things worse. I haven't tried any yet but I have a bunch so maybe I will remmeber to try cutting a few of them today and will let everyone know how it goes. Julie, what kind of plants have you started in them? Cucumbers Tomatoes Beans Peppers etc??
My apologies! I missed that somewhere! I grow all of my heirloom veggies in peat pots--tomatoes (70 varieties), peppers (30+ varieties), herbs, cucumbers, watermelons...basically, anything that I don't direct seed, I start in a seedling tray, transplant into peat pots, harden off, and then move out to the garden or to my customers. I usually direct seed lettuce, beans, peas...but I've done projects with children where we grew those in peat pots, too. (BTW--I have no ties to the peat-pot industry...they just work for me! ) Good luck! Julie
:-D I don't know if you missed it, just wanted to make sure everyone knew before someone came back and yelled at me because they shishcabobbed their plant roots. I should have been more clear with my original thoughts. So far a little luck although I think I need a much sharper razor blade to make a clean cut. I am thinking of using my Dremel with a cutting disk to make the slots just to keep from tearing up little shreds every cut. I did find that putting the pot on a hard surface, some sort of cup or something else that fits inside has helped a lot.
So far so good I have taken 10 pots now and done pretty much anything I wanted to do with them without an nmajor collapses. Here is what I did to them: #1 5 cuts along the bottom with large slots #2 2 cuts basically cutting pot in half from top to bottom #3 Smaller cuts but made 6 sets of cuts top to bottom #4 Cut around top and bottom with many small slots and was able to remove both without any problem and not destroy middle part of oot even without soil. Now I am gonna try making perforation with a large needle instead of making cuts. I think if odne right with enough holes that removal will be extremely easy. All of these cuts I did in the pots held together after the pot was soaked in water overnight and lifted up almost full of water. Soil should not be a problem. They are also very easy to tear apart along the cuts even when soaked so removal of cut sections should be easy when filled with soil. Oh and one other things I have found about those peat pellets/hockey pucks. Buy quality ones. They are slightly more expensive but the cheap ones from Wal-Mart are REALLY cheap and not worth saving a couple bucks per 36 to get them. I got some from my local garden store and they are solid even when soaked and the hole in the middle is perfect from dry and hard to fully expanded. This will make it much easier to start seeds and get the results we want. One word of caution: do not try to cut the puts while they are wet! If you do they will be no good except to loosen up potting soil. I did this with 2 of them and wound up with a pile of mush.
hey fish.. sounds like you've got it going on.. Thanks for the info! I found an article about toilet paper rolls..LOL.. yeah those things!! You can use the whole thing or cut them in half. Make 4 slits in the bottom and fold to the center to make the bottom. It did say keep the roll wet, so as not to dry out the seedling. Plant the whole thing in the ground.. hmmm sounds interesting
My advice to pre cutting/perforating them is more slits is better than large slits. Stay at about 1/2 inch long. A series of little holes made down and/or around the entire peat pot worked the best to keep the pot sturdy anough so there was now orry if it tearing once it was soaked. Don't cut the bottom at all or they simply fall apart if you pick them up after soil is put in them. Large slits did not work well and I doubt there is any way to do large slits and keep them from falling apart. I think for the ones I am gonna do for my delicate root plants I am gonna do a large number of holes made with a large darning needle. That way if the pots won't come apart really easy at least there are already a ton of holes in it for the roots to break thought that much easier. I imagine one could even put the holes in the pots when you are ready to transplant as the needle should not damage very many of the roots.
So good of you to share all of your research with us. Having never started seeds before, this is helpful. For one thing, I would have been tempted to buy cheaper peat pds... and for another, I was thinking you could just plop a whole peat pot into the ground, seedling inside. Live and learn.
You can place an entire peat pot in the gorund with the plant in it but I have been told it prevents a really large root base from forming on many plants, especially vegetables. Namely on tomatoes and peppers which really want a massive root base for optimal nutrient uptake and fruit production. I will admit I am new to succesful gardening with vegetables but after my experience last year with both plasitc seed trays and my pour results with peats I am gonna try to get every advantage I can this year so I get lots of tomatoes and everything else.
Okay, there is a major down side to doing this. I had 3 pots that I put some peat moss in and started some old seeds just to see how the pots would do. The seeds came up fine but when I tried to move the pots and do anything with them they fell apart. I had too many cuts that were too long I think. I have had some better luck with perforated ones that I used a large darning needle on but they still fall apart too easily. I guess it is one of those ideas that sounded good but is not gonna pan out. The roots of pretty much anything push right through them and having a pot fall apart in the middle of a transplant would suck. Not to mention the soil didn't stay together well anyway once the entire pot was removed. This might work for removing the bottom or maybe the top but for the whole pot I don't recommend it unless someone has better luck that I did.
