Bought this kit with 72 peat discs and they were great to start the seed in but the growing medium is small and I’m potting the seedlings into larger cups. This is a low cost seed starter system. For a few bucks more you can get a larger size and probably hold the plants long enough to directly plant into your garden. If you want to replace the discs and start another batch the cost is higher than just buying another 72 discs kit. I’m not sure how my makeover will work out but these small cups fit perfectly into the bottom sections. The cup tops have a larger diameter so you go from 72 to 36 containers. We are still having some cold days so this was an enjoyable way to get started preparing my garden. Time will tell how the plastic cups work out. I might be a little early but I planted a few warm season seeds. Mostly tomatoes and okra.
I was thinking about buying one of those the other day. If you put water in the tray itself will it wick up to the plants?
… you risk development of diseases, pests, and asphyxiating the roots with water.
The instruction says to add a specific amount of water before putting the seeds in. This amount was enough to germinate the seed. I only used container to germinate and then I moved the plants to an open grow lights.
Are your disks covered in thin synthetic sleeve? If so, remove it. It badly obstructs the roots.
Yes they have the net. Thanks
Why do you start okra indoors? Okra seems to go so fast outside that I always considered it a waste of space to start it indoors.
I have done it both ways with good results.
Question: I was going to plant seeds in small pots and just leave them outside till they grow large enough to transplant. I’m new to the seed game. Will that produce fair results?
Va.
I’ll let someone with more experience answer this question.
Generally if they are growing outside you may as well direct sow. In fact direct sowing in encouraged with things like squash or sunflowers. Many times I see someone fail with squash it is due to transplanting for example. Thing is those seeds will complete their full cycle outdoors when it is warm enough. Peppers need 12+ weeks inside from seed and tomatoes need to be planted 10+ weeks inside to grow to maturity from seed. You may see say 80 days but that is from transplant and not from seed. Other seed like lettuce enjoy cold season and I will plant it out when it is still snowing out. I always say crops like lettuce are one of the few annuals I can make money back here in CO because the snow waters for me.
I used to use these peat pellets. I even tried the biggest size. I found the plants quickly outgrew the peat pellets so I had to up pot them anyway. You have to cut the mesh as it does not decompose so it is not very clean either. The best way I found to start seeds in to get some potting soil and save your nursery pots from previous years. So many of these old nursery pots never degrade and you can use them as starting pots every year until they basically break. The other way is to start them in cups. Many encourage seed starting soil but I find my seeds can push through potting soil just fine. Pots are free once bought and the soil costs 8 to 10 dollars from Costco and can be kept for refilling for a few years.