Seedling containers.

Worth1 · January 10, 2016

I might as wel start a new thread on the subject and give some input.
Later if there is intrest I can give more information on the types and what I have found.
Right now I would like to give some pros and cons on what I am finding out so far.
The peat pots I am growing some in are doing great.
The big plus I see with them is they are almost impossible to water log.
In other words if you get them soaked they will dry out fast and you dont have to worry as much about damping off.
This is a big plus with me doing this in such cold weather.
The con is you have to water more big deal.

The plastic and glass containers take almost forever to dry out so you need to account for this and not water as much.
Then as the plant gets bigger you dont have to worry about it.
At least for me this is why I dont like to have them all setting in water all of the time.
It always seems there are some that get and stay water logged.

Now I am going to talk about investing in the square or round containers you can buy on line along with the trays they fit in.
They are a great investment if you buy the right kind.
There are the heavy duty injection molded AKA extruded.
And the are the ones that are thin walled vacuum formed.

Here are the squares they are expensive but if you are willing to pay for them and take care of them they last a good long time.
I have some made the same way by another company I have been saving but that company has been conglomoed and I cant figure out how to order from them.
Take a look and I will be back later
http://store.beldenplastics.com/Squares

Mojo · January 10, 2016

[Behold, he resurfaces!]
Note that one should always make sure to buy the right size pots for the tray. I bought 3 1/2" pots for my trays, and while they did technically fit, there's a significant difference btw. those pots and 3" pots, mainly that you can't get the plastic lid to fid on the tray when you use the larger pots....

(I'm using extra review textbooks to keep the lids reasonably well-seated atop the pots)

Gardeneer · January 10, 2016

From the picture of your plants, in the other thread , I see that they are already in 3 1/2 to 4" pots. so then your next step should be like half a gallon size ?.

When I start my seeds and grow seedling under light , 6- 7 weeks before plant out, the 3 1/2 to 4" is all I need. I have tons of them ( round and square) accumulated over the year. Even I have plenty of half a gallon round ones.
But if I wanted to buy them probably would go with the square shape. They are better to arranges in trays. Jus my 2 cents.

Gardeneed

Worth1 · January 10, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

From the picture of your plants, in the other thread , I see that they are already in 3 1/2 to 4" pots. so then your next step should be like half a gallon size ?.

When I start my seeds and grow seedling under light , 6- 7 weeks before plant out, the 3 1/2 to 4" is all I need. I have tons of them ( round and square) accumulated over the year. Even I have plenty of half a gallon round ones.
But if I wanted to buy them probably would go with the square shape. They are better to arranges in trays. Jus my 2 cents.

Gardeneed

I normally dont pot up any more but this year who knows.

Square is much better than round for two reasons.
One is like you said the group together better.
The other is a square of the same size will hold more soil.

At the grocery store they sell the plants in these really nice square pots like you see.
To get the tray for free I move plants around and buy a few and they just give me the free flat.
They are really nice.

Worth

KarenO · January 11, 2016

if you have the space, bigger is better but it is more expensive as they need more potting mix per pot. I transplant from either cell or peat pellet straight to a liter pots. I wash and re-use saved greenhouse pots from purchased plants and I get my family/friends to save pots for me from plants they buy as well. 6" pots are great, don't dry out as quickly and can hold my big 24" seedlings properly in the GH until plant out time without getting root bound.
I prefer those plastic mesh greenhouse flats to place them in rather than solid ones to facilitate drainage. They come free from garden centers here when you buy them full of six packs. Square pots do fit nice and snug in trays which makes them easy to carry but you can ,make do with round ones on the benches as well especially if you aren't carrying them around much. they become brittle over time exposed to UV but they last at least 4 or more seasons if you handle them carefully

Karen

AlittleSalt · January 11, 2016

I use solo cups. It works.

pmcgrady · January 11, 2016

Out of cells into newspaper pots made from wrapping newspaper around a soup can, I usually then plant the newspaper pot and all at plant out time, but I noticed this fall when pulling done/dead tomato plants there were some plants that the roots were restricted because of paper pots. Think I will remove them this year before planting.

Canehdian · January 11, 2016

Karen, I am wondering what medium do you use for the larger pots? I tried a few bigger ones last season and some just would not dry out and plants were lost.

Cole_Robbie · January 11, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I use solo cups. It works.

I like them, too. But I wish someone would invent a tray that would hold them down while being watered so they didn't tip over.

Father'sDaughter · January 11, 2016

I went with a 5.5 square, 6 inch deep vacuum formed Coex pot from Greenhouse Megatore for up-potting. They are deep enough to keep the seedling happy until plant out time and being square, they fit well in trays. Like a solo cup, the rims are rigid but the sides are flexible. I think I've been using them for three years now and so far haven't lost any to breakage.

KarenO · January 11, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canehdian

Karen, I am wondering what medium do you use for the larger pots? I tried a few bigger ones last season and some just would not dry out and plants were lost.

When I pot up they go out to the greenhouse, cold at night with a heater so the GH is not very humid. usually pretty warm/hot with the louvers and vent + door open during the day so there is airflow. For seedlings I usually use miracle grow potting mix. Costco sells it here in the large bags. I grow my seedlings quite large before plant out, 24 " often blooming. Works for me but once they are big my seedlings need to be watered every day for sure. When they are little, maybe every 3 days depending how hot it is in the GH. I try never to let them dry right out. I hand water keeping the foliage dry and they don't sit in water in flats.
KarenO

imp · January 11, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmcgrady

Out of cells into newspaper pots made from wrapping newspaper around a soup can, I usually then plant the newspaper pot and all at plant out time, but I noticed this fall when pulling done/dead tomato plants there were some plants that the roots were restricted because of paper pots. Think I will remove them this year before planting.

When I have used either the peat, cow pat or newspaper pots, I poke my fingers into the pot a few places pretty good to make sure the roots don't have to fight their way out when transplanting- since I have started doing that, haven't had any problems with them taking off real well.

Worth1 · January 11, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarenO

When I pot up they go out to the greenhouse, cold at night with a heater so the GH is not very humid. usually pretty warm/hot with the louvers and vent + door open during the day so there is airflow. For seedlings I usually use miracle grow potting mix. Costco sells it here in the large bags. I grow my seedlings quite large before plant out, 24 " often blooming. Works for me but once they are big my seedlings need to be watered every day for sure. When they are little, maybe every 3 days depending how hot it is in the GH. I try never to let them dry right out. I hand water keeping the foliage dry and they don't sit in water in flats.
KarenO

I'm using the same stuff Organic Natures Care but the raised bed soil.
I looked it it and it was practically the same thing as the potting mix.
I have yet to see any dirt in it.
The soil dries out nicely.

As for the SOLO cups I saw a video where a woman was using them but they were square on the bottom.
These would fit in a square pot carrying tray.

Worth

Gardeneer · January 11, 2016

Solo Cups are not stable. (Narrow bottom, too tall ). Like Cole said, that would be nice if had a tray system to accommodate.
These are the ones I use. There re-used nursery pots that we have kept.

BigVanVader · January 11, 2016

I still follow Craig's dense planting method using seedling trays like this. I then move them to 3 inch pots when they are ready.

January 10, 2016	#1
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Seedling containers. I might as wel start a new thread on the subject and give some input. Later if there is intrest I can give more information on the types and what I have found. Right now I would like to give some pros and cons on what I am finding out so far. The peat pots I am growing some in are doing great. The big plus I see with them is they are almost impossible to water log. In other words if you get them soaked they will dry out fast and you dont have to worry as much about damping off. This is a big plus with me doing this in such cold weather. The con is you have to water more big deal. The plastic and glass containers take almost forever to dry out so you need to account for this and not water as much. Then as the plant gets bigger you dont have to worry about it. At least for me this is why I dont like to have them all setting in water all of the time. It always seems there are some that get and stay water logged. Now I am going to talk about investing in the square or round containers you can buy on line along with the trays they fit in. They are a great investment if you buy the right kind. There are the heavy duty injection molded AKA extruded. And the are the ones that are thin walled vacuum formed. Here are the squares they are expensive but if you are willing to pay for them and take care of them they last a good long time. I have some made the same way by another company I have been saving but that company has been conglomoed and I cant figure out how to order from them. Take a look and I will be back later http://store.beldenplastics.com/Squares

January 10, 2016	#2
Mojo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 317	[Behold, he resurfaces!] Note that one should always make sure to buy the right size pots for the tray. I bought 3 1/2" pots for my trays, and while they did technically fit, there's a significant difference btw. those pots and 3" pots, mainly that you can't get the plastic lid to fid on the tray when you use the larger pots.... (I'm using extra review textbooks to keep the lids reasonably well-seated atop the pots) __________________ There is no logical response to the question, "Why won't you let me plant more tomatoes?"

January 10, 2016	#3
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,909	From the picture of your plants, in the other thread , I see that they are already in 3 1/2 to 4" pots. so then your next step should be like half a gallon size ?. When I start my seeds and grow seedling under light , 6- 7 weeks before plant out, the 3 1/2 to 4" is all I need. I have tons of them ( round and square) accumulated over the year. Even I have plenty of half a gallon round ones. But if I wanted to buy them probably would go with the square shape. They are better to arranges in trays. Jus my 2 cents. Gardeneed

January 11, 2016	#5
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,922	if you have the space, bigger is better but it is more expensive as they need more potting mix per pot. I transplant from either cell or peat pellet straight to a liter pots. I wash and re-use saved greenhouse pots from purchased plants and I get my family/friends to save pots for me from plants they buy as well. 6" pots are great, don't dry out as quickly and can hold my big 24" seedlings properly in the GH until plant out time without getting root bound. I prefer those plastic mesh greenhouse flats to place them in rather than solid ones to facilitate drainage. They come free from garden centers here when you buy them full of six packs. Square pots do fit nice and snug in trays which makes them easy to carry but you can ,make do with round ones on the benches as well especially if you aren't carrying them around much. they become brittle over time exposed to UV but they last at least 4 or more seasons if you handle them carefully Karen

January 11, 2016	#6
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	I use solo cups. It works.

January 11, 2016	#7
pmcgrady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 1,836	Out of cells into newspaper pots made from wrapping newspaper around a soup can, I usually then plant the newspaper pot and all at plant out time, but I noticed this fall when pulling done/dead tomato plants there were some plants that the roots were restricted because of paper pots. Think I will remove them this year before planting.

January 11, 2016	#8
Canehdian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada Posts: 94	Karen, I am wondering what medium do you use for the larger pots? I tried a few bigger ones last season and some just would not dry out and plants were lost.

January 11, 2016	#10
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,917	I went with a 5.5 square, 6 inch deep vacuum formed Coex pot from Greenhouse Megatore for up-potting. They are deep enough to keep the seedling happy until plant out time and being square, they fit well in trays. Like a solo cup, the rims are rigid but the sides are flexible. I think I've been using them for three years now and so far haven't lost any to breakage.