Jiffy 7's

MikeInCypress · February 9, 2013

I have used Jiffy 7 pellets as my seed starting medium for over 30 years. Whenever I pot up I remove the plastic netting and grown on in 12 oz or 16 oz styrofoam cups. The netting has always torn easily until this year, I have to cut the netting to remove it. Plus it is much more difficult to remove. Has anyone else noticed this? Would keeping the netting on retard the root growth of my transplants?

MikeInCypress

KarenO · February 9, 2013

I too always use Jiffy pellets. I have not noticed a difference in the netting here yet. I have always transplanted mine with the netting on and never had a problem, The roots always go right through it in my experience.

Sun City Linda · February 9, 2013

Another jiffy fan here. I pull the net and some roots sometimes come off. Not enough to be a problem.

ChrisK · February 9, 2013

I never pull the netting off and the roots are never inhibited by it when planted.

kath · February 10, 2013

I purchased them last year for the first time to try them out. I bought them in a couple different stores both in trays and in bulk boxes not realizing there'd be any difference. I noticed there were different kinds when soaking/sowing but didn't think much of it until it was time to transplant and I wanted to remove the netting because of the negative things I'd read about root restriction. One type was easy to rip and peel off- the other kind needed scissors and really slowed things down.

I returned the rest of the bad ones and in WMart they had some 72-cell trays with the good ones but most were the losers. Guess the transition started last season- too bad but maybe the new ones are more biodegradable than the plastic stuff- no doubt they're cheaper to produce.

svalli · February 10, 2013

The Jiffy pellets sold here have had all the time such white unwoven fabric around them. It does not tear as easily as from the ones I used is USA, which had a plastic net around them. I have tried couple of yeas ago planting some plants with the fabric on the pellets and year and two later I kept finding these fabrics in the flower bed when digging it. I have since then been removing all of the fabric when planting and thrown it in the trash.

There is another brand here, which have the fabric around the pellets as a tube, so they are open at the bottom. They are a bit messier to use, since some peat falls to the tray, but the roots will easier grow through.

PA_Julia · February 10, 2013

I'm a big Jiffy fan and use it every season.
Last year I did use scissors to assist in removing it on some of them.

February 9, 2013	#1
MikeInCypress Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cypress, TX Posts: 963	Jiffy 7's I have used Jiffy 7 pellets as my seed starting medium for over 30 years. Whenever I pot up I remove the plastic netting and grown on in 12 oz or 16 oz styrofoam cups. The netting has always torn easily until this year, I have to cut the netting to remove it. Plus it is much more difficult to remove. Has anyone else noticed this? Would keeping the netting on retard the root growth of my transplants? MikeInCypress __________________ "Growing older, not up"

February 9, 2013	#4
ChrisK Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,448	I never pull the netting off and the roots are never inhibited by it when planted. __________________ Blog: chriskafer.wordpress.com Ignorance more frequently begets knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. --Charles Darwin

February 10, 2013	#6
svalli Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63° Posts: 838	The Jiffy pellets sold here have had all the time such white unwoven fabric around them. It does not tear as easily as from the ones I used is USA, which had a plastic net around them. I have tried couple of yeas ago planting some plants with the fabric on the pellets and year and two later I kept finding these fabrics in the flower bed when digging it. I have since then been removing all of the fabric when planting and thrown it in the trash. There is another brand here, which have the fabric around the pellets as a tube, so they are open at the bottom. They are a bit messier to use, since some peat falls to the tray, but the roots will easier grow through. __________________ "I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson

February 10, 2013	#7
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	I'm a big Jiffy fan and use it every season. Last year I did use scissors to assist in removing it on some of them. __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

February 9, 2013	#2
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,922	I too always use Jiffy pellets. I have not noticed a difference in the netting here yet. I have always transplanted mine with the netting on and never had a problem, The roots always go right through it in my experience.

February 9, 2013	#3
Sun City Linda Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal Inland Posts: 2,705	Another jiffy fan here. I pull the net and some roots sometimes come off. Not enough to be a problem.

February 10, 2013	#5
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I purchased them last year for the first time to try them out. I bought them in a couple different stores both in trays and in bulk boxes not realizing there'd be any difference. I noticed there were different kinds when soaking/sowing but didn't think much of it until it was time to transplant and I wanted to remove the netting because of the negative things I'd read about root restriction. One type was easy to rip and peel off- the other kind needed scissors and really slowed things down. I returned the rest of the bad ones and in WMart they had some 72-cell trays with the good ones but most were the losers. Guess the transition started last season- too bad but maybe the new ones are more biodegradable than the plastic stuff- no doubt they're cheaper to produce.