Seed Starting Containers
Almost any container that has drainage and can hold at least a quarter of a cup of potting mix can be used to start seedlings. Egg cartons are not appropriate. Some of the more popular commercial containers used for starting seeds are Peat Pots and small peat disks called "Jiffy 7's".
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| Peat pot with mature seedling |
Peat pots are small containers made of pressed peat which allows you to bury the pot along with the plant when you plant your seedlings out in the garden. The peat, when wet, will allow the roots of the seedling to penetrate the sides of the pot and the plant grows normally. This approach avoids the shock to the root system normally occurring when transplanting seedlings from plastic containers. Peat pots come in many sizes. Some even some with their own holding trays. For information and sources go to www.jiffyproducts.com
Important Note - While these peat pots are perfectly good devices for starting seedlings, be very sure, when you put your seedling and peat pot into the ground in the garden, that you do not have any of the top rim of the peat pot above the surface of the soil; it needs to be fully buried under that soil. Otherwise, any lip of the peat pot left above the surface will serve to wick off moisture in and around the roots of the seedlings – a very bad thing.
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| Jiffy Seven with mature seedling |
Jiffy Sevens are also made of compressed peat. They come in the package in the form of a disk, like a very thick quarter. When you set that disk in water, the peat expands and is kept in shape by a very light, almost invisible, plastic netting. The moistened Jiffy Seven looks like a little barrel a little bigger than a golf ball. There is a little hole in the top of the barrel in which to place your seed. You set the planted Jiffy Sevens on a tray, like a cafeteria tray so you can water them from the bottom.
Like the Peat Pot, the seedling is planted along with the Jiffy Seven reducing the transplant shock. Even though the box says you can plant the whole Jiffy Seven, plastic netting and all, Jeff likes to cut off the netting to avoid having little pieces of netting floating through the garden soil over the years. For information and sources go to www.jiffyproducts.com