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Old December 20, 2010   #28
JackE
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Woodville, Texas
Posts: 520
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We don't sell seedlings - just produce them for our own use. Mostly just tomatoes and peppers.

We use Jiffy round 2X2 peat pots - very reasonable in a case of 4000. We also get plastic trays from Jiffy, exactly the right size to accommodate 50 2"X2" pots. The trays have no drain holes, which allows the pots to sit in about 1/2" of water all the time, which prevents dry-out problems.

We germinate the seed in a heated room, transplant the seedlings at cotlyedon stage into the peat pots and move them to the greenhouse where the thermostat is set at 45 degrees. In nice weather we put them out in full sun. We fertilize our seedlings regularly with 20-10-20 and use Mircale-Gro potting mix - which has a lot of irritating sticks in it, but still the best we've found.

When we transplant, at about six weeks, we tear the bottoms out of the peat pots to let the roots out.

For many years, we used Prop-A-Matic 40 cell trays with the reservoir/osmosis water system, but the peat pots work better. Last year was our first and we are pleased with them. But they did not work for collards - they didn't decompose in the cooler soil and the collard plants got root-bound. We lost a 1000 plant crop. For toms and peppers though, it's the only way to go.

Jack
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