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pippi21

peat pots

pippi21
12 years ago

This afternoon, my intentions were to attempt to plant out more of my WS seedlings. I had planted Mrs. Bradshaw Geum in a jar that originally had tropical dried candy in it. Mrs. Bradshaw germinated beautifully, had their second set of leaves but is slow growing so I figured I'd better try to get them out of that jar. I will NEVER used nothing but milk jugs again. I did use all milk jugs with the exception of 2 other containers. The plastic that round jar was made to last forever. I took a sheetrock knife, the scissors, even prunning sheers that happened to be on the work bench. I must have worked for over an hour trying to get the sides cut down so I could get the seedlings out. Well, I managed with the sheetrock knife to cut around the top rim..I finally could only get the sides cut down about 1/4 of the way down and ended up taking a plastic spoon and digging the tender seedlings out of that jar. Well, the seedlings wanted to come out one or two at a time, so I ended up reaching for some peat pots I had bought but had not used. I soaked them and got them wet, then scraped the bottom of the tub for my potting mix. It was like I had to ration the potting mix into each peat pot, and once I got the seedling in the peat pot, I dug out the soil from that jar and packed it around the seedlings. After dinner, I went down to HD for more potting mix. Of course, they sell either Scotts or Miracle Gro and Scotts owns both. We were looking for a hose wand and couldn't find any at HD so drove over to K-mart and found one there. Their flowers and vegetable plants were out front on racks and I saw these beautiful red dianthus that I couldn't resist, each pack has 6 plants in it so I basically got 36 plants. Can't read all the fine print but what I know about dianthus is that they are a perennial, am I right? Anyway I'm going to spread them among my flower beds in the back of the house. They should return next year and spread. right? Since I've never had much experience with using peat pots, should I go ahead and plant them like they are with Mrs. Bradshaw or try to let the seedling get larger? That's my gut feeling. Do the peat pots tend to dry out quickly? Should I sit them into some other container like a saucer or what about if I put them in a gal milk jug like if I was WS or should I cut the top off and expose them to sun/light. They've been harden off for over a week, rained on many times, and may get more rain tonight. They were somewhat protected in that hard plastic round jar.

Comments (5)

  • beatrice_outdoors
    12 years ago

    Wow! Did that container have a recycling symbol on it? If so, what was the number, so I can make sure to never use it, too!

    I've used peat pots for other plantings-don't like them because they dry out too easily for me if inside, and turn to mush too quickly if left outside. I can't find a happy medium. Since they are already hardened off I'd say plant them directly after you trim the top down to soil level, but consider waiting a few days first, so the seedlings have a chance to "settle in" after being rousted about in transport/transplant.

    I have dianthus flowers in my yard that have grown from seeds in a box of "shade flower mix" from the dollar store. This is the third year they are here-the plants never died all the way back to the ground but instead stayed green under the snow, so for me in zone 6a, they are a perennial. I know some dianthus are bi-annuals, though, so I'm keeping an eye out to see if these disappear entirely after this year. Mine went to seed last fall, which I collected and WS, and now have two additional flats of them. I think if you just leave them alone, they will spread by both seed and growing/spreading.

  • pippi21
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    It is a round jar with silver lid on it, like in the snack and candy section. Brand Archer Farms Tropical Fruit(Fat Free trail mix) includes sweetened papaya, pineapple, mango, kiwi and coconut strips) Hubby is diabetic and loves it and shouldn't eat but he does anyway. A serving size(1/2 c.has 37 grams of carb and 32 grams of that is sugars. Duh! I'm tired of talking!

    There are no numbers on the bottom; only a star embossed in the plastic. What does that Star mean? Maybe Parve but if a food is Parve, those words are usually written out, isn't it?

  • beatrice_outdoors
    12 years ago

    I did a google image search to see what it looks like-that is very sturdy plastic, indeed. It must have been difficult to get the holes in the bottom? If it takes a drill to put holes in the container, it is too stiff for cutting down later. It also looks like the top of the jar is a little more narrow than the bottom, which would make it that much more difficult to get the seedlings out. Yikes!

    OMG! that is WAY too much for him to be eating if he's diabetic. Tell him he now has woman in Massachusetts telling him to stop eating that stuff-he needs to live a long time, to take care of YOU!!! :)

  • pippi21
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I use a soldering iron to make drainage and air circulation holes in my containers. I have this old pr. of long pointed scissors that must be 30-40 yrs. old that I can sometimes get through the plastic, especially around the neck of milk jug and on the sides. I can do it for the bottom but that seems to be tougher for some reason. I really have to apply some pressure on those bottoms, thus the soldering iron gets it done in seconds.. Can you post that picture on this for others to see, NOT to try that container. Gardening is all about trial and error, even for veteran gardeners that have been at it for a long time.

  • beatrice_outdoors
    12 years ago

    This is a link to an Amazon page that sells Archer Farms-I'm assuming the container is the same style as what you used? I can't figure out how to do images yet-sorry.

    http://www.amazon.com/Archer-Farms-Sunny-Cranberry-Trail/dp/B003WC2JMK/ref=pd_sbs_gro_3

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