Peat Pots / manure pots and starting seeds

[ashlogcreek]

I have been thinking about this for a couple of years, and it's finally time to ask some advice.If I buy the 5" cow manure pots or peat pots, fill them half full of starter, and then plant the seeds, and then as the seed grows I can clip leaves and add more starter until the pot is full. It seems to me that this would give the roots a better / deeper system, and help the stem of the plants,especially with peppers and tomatoes. Then when I transplant them, they will have a deep hardy root system, hopefully. Has anyone tried this?

[Moondog]

I make paper pots. I am a cheap stingy @#(@#$. I find that a sheet of copy paper folded in half longways makes a great pot. Put paper tape on it. Use a soup can as a mold.

I put same amount of soil in all of them. Tomato plants can get pretty long. If they have enough light - and that means the flourescents are only a few inches away - they will develope the necessary roots. On tomatoes I like them to really reach before going into the garden. Then I pluck off all but the very top two or 3 leaves and drop them in the ground as deep as they can go.

Pepper and everything else really get no benefit from being buried deeper. I let them grow in the pot then plant them about the same depth and stake them from the 1st day in the garden. It has always worked for me. I loose a few but the paper pots are cheap enough that I really don't care. I make them up over the winter 500 pots cost me about $3 for the paper(less if I would use newspaper) and I have my own compost. But then again I am very miserly.
 
Good luck
Dog

[Pjames]

Moondog, You are a man after my own heart!!!. I made my own pots this past winter/spring. Only I used medicine bottles and strips pf newspapers for pots. I did find toilet paper rolls worked better. I cut each one into three pots. I used my own compost as soil.

Some plants had very high germination and growth while others fell short of expectations. I used old ice cream tubs set in a sunny window as my starter plots. I have been accumulating toilet paper rolls  from both my house and my parents over the summer so i have enough to start a farm...

[alight]

I have only had a garden for 2 years and both years I have only grown from seed unless it's onion, garlic, and shallots.

I start off with peat pellets and when my plants get about 4inches I transplant pellet and all into 5 inch peat pots. I plant my tomatoes deeper and deeper every time I transplant (start with peat pellet, go up to 5 inch peat pot, then out to the garden). Once in the garden I plant them as deep as I can without burying the whole plant. Both years now I have had beautiful 10 feet tall tomato plants.

Everything else gets planted at the same depth as they were in the peat pellets.

Not sure if this will help any but I hope so! Happy Gardening!!
Nicki

[SETEX_GARDENER]

All of these ideas sound good to me!! More than one way to skin a cat! I had better luck this year planting my maters laying down in a trench. This allows roots to grow all along the plant stem, therefore they have a really LARGE root ball over a greater area. I have never tried the manure pots but have looked at them. Never thougth about paper pots, but that might be a good plan for saving $$$. If you use those peat pellets, be sure to remove the netting wrapper from them before transplanting. I pulled up some of my pepper plants and their root ball was no bigger than a softball (if that large) due to the roots having to grow out of those netting wrappers from the pellets. Those things if biodegradable at all are VERY slow to deteriorate. I never noticed such before when I planted......

Curtis

[1tongarden]

thats sounds pretty good im interested in learning how to make those paper pots so i dont have to buy100 again this year

[MikeCHS]

Home made paper pots are obviously more frugal but I was amazed at how much better my 'maters grew in them over the peat pots.  I literally had several inches of roots coming through the manure pots and none in peat pots planted the same time (and in the same flat).

[Moondog]

thats sounds pretty good im interested in learning how to make those paper pots so i dont have to buy100 again this year

Ton,

It is really simple. A ream of copy paper costs about $4 at office max. You can even get it less at knock off stores. Fold about 2 inches down on the long side. Take a soup can and roll around the can and tape. fold the bottom in around the bottom of the can and whack it on the table. You can put a piece of tap on the bottom but I usually don't. Put them in pan where I can water from the bottom. Fill with compost... Bam.... 1 roll tape $.75 1 Ream copy paper $4 that comes out to $4.75 for 500 pots or less than 1 cent per pot if you have your own compost.

The ability to forget about buying pots by a cheap stingy BAS@#$ Priceless.

Dog

[pybryce]

I like to make the pots square so they fit nicely inside of a plastic coke crate that I can dip in a wheelbarrow full of water when the soil is dry.  Note:  I borrowed this picture from JohnnyMax's facebook page.  In case you are not familiar with him, he and his wife have a podcast on homesteading.  Good info, good people, and a good listen!  sshomestead.com

[kevinH]

those pots look good i think i will have to try that.thanks for the pics

[MikeCHS]

I start some of my early and late season plants up to two months early.  Will those paper pots hold up that long?

[Moondog]

Mine do. I don't jostle them around by taking them in and out of the container. But I tear off the paper when I plant and it is descently still holding up.

[Husker Wagon]

thats sounds pretty good im interested in learning how to make those paper pots so i dont have to buy100 again this year

Ton,

It is really simple. A ream of copy paper costs about $4 at office max. You can even get it less at knock off stores. Fold about 2 inches down on the long side. Take a soup can and roll around the can and tape. fold the bottom in around the bottom of the can and whack it on the table. You can put a piece of tap on the bottom but I usually don't. Put them in pan where I can water from the bottom. Fill with compost... Bam.... 1 roll tape $.75 1 Ream copy paper $4 that comes out to $4.75 for 500 pots or less than 1 cent per pot if you have your own compost.

The ability to forget about buying pots by a cheap stingy BAS@#$ Priceless.

Dog

I was happy with my paper pot (one to try it out ;-) ). Roots come right through the paper. I used some
garlic onion sets to test with.

This may be the way i go next spring.

[1tongarden]

i just dont see emlasting for 2 months    withwatering and all   do they actually hopd together

[Moondog]

Mine do if I use copy paper. Not if I use newspaper. I put mine in a plastic dishpan and only water from the bottom. I never take them out of the dishpan. Therefore they are not handled and the tops stay relatively dry except for the wicking action. In a $1 dishpan from the dollar store I get 14 pots. Also, don't keep the roots sogged. They need to dry some between watering. It causes the roots to search for water. If you keep the roots wet then the plant gets what it needs from a minimum amount of root structure. Like us plants don't want to work if they don't have to. This allow the paper to dry some between watering and hold together. I will post a pics of how I do my pots this evening when I get time to take a few pics.

[Pjames]

I planted 42 each of broccoli and brussel sprouts plus a couple more tubs of some other stuff. I used toilet paper and paper towel rolls cut into about 1 inch lengths. That gives me three pots per TP and about 7  or 8 of the paper towels.  I pack them with my homemade potting soil just tight enough to hold the soil in place.

My "incubator' tubs are really high tech...I use gallon size plastic ice cream containers like you get  in the cheap ice cream section of the grocery store. Almost all of these were from my Dad (he likes a bowl most nights). i just water the tubs in the bottom and put them in a sunny window. After  a few days I will check the tubs and spray them with some hydrogen peroxide if I see any sign of mold.

[canaangardener]

I got started with my pots tonight. how do they look?  Thanks Brian.

[Moondog]

Brian,
That is exactly the way I do mine. I don't take them out of their container and they hold up good.
Dog

[canaangardener]

O.K. so my maters are up a couple of iniches in my manure pots,  so i have started watering them from the bottom.  I am amazied how fast it wicks the water up. My question is how much do i water them? I dont want to over water them.  Thanks Brian

[Moondog]

Brian,

I water mine just the amount that the pots will soak up without leaving any in the bottom of the dishpan. When I first started out I drilled a hole in the plastic dishpan and covered with tape so i could let out excess water. Now no hole is needed I can feel of the top of the pots and pretty much guess how much water they will soak up. Don't want them soggy just damp. If you keep them soggy the little plants will damp off at the top of the soil and die. Start off with a cup and wait and feel.

Dog