How to Buy the Right Plants, Tools, and Garden Supplies by Jim Fox

Author:Jim Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: 2013-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

Containers for Starting Seeds

Containers for starting seeds can be purchased ready-made, or if you only need a few you can make them from yogurt cups, margarine containers and tubs, styrofoam cups, and such. Wash them well and punch several holes in the bottom for drainage.

For planting containers, you can also buy peat pots and peat pellets that come as disks and expand when soaked in water. I see no need for them as they are not reusable and cost more than reusing plastic containers. They are made to decompose in the ground as long as no part of them sticks out of the soil. However, the thin netting on the peat pellet never rots, so you are adding one more bit of plastic to the ground.

I stick with plastic or sometimes clay pots. If you use the latter, be sure to soak the pots in a bucket of water first to fully hydrate them so they don’t steal water from the soil. They dry out quickly, which can be a good thing, but don’t let them get too dry; otherwise, every time you water, the water will go into the sides of the pot instead of the soil.

I stopped sterilizing and washing reused plastic containers in bleach water years ago and have not had any problems, but I sow all of my seed in pots left outside to fend for themselves. If I were sowing delicate or very rare seeds prone to damping-off, I would buy a new plastic container or rinse out an old container in a sink filled with water and a tablespoon of bleach, rinsing it afterward in clear water and letting it air dry.

You can buy seed-sowing kits consisting of a flat with no drainage holes, a set of plastic cells (three packs, four packs, or six packs just like the ones many spring annuals are sold in at nurseries and garden centers) that fits the tray, and a plastic dome to cover the whole thing. They work and can be modestly priced or rather expensive. Keep them in bright light but not direct sunlight or the temperature will become too hot inside the little greenhouse, cooking the seedlings.

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