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Post by spike on Jan 11, 2019 11:51:07 GMT -5
Is it okay if I ask a question here?
A friend of mine suggested I start my seeds in ice cream cones. That way I could just plant the whole entire cone and it would be biodegradable. Has anyone tried this? All I can think of is well ANTS, possums and coons coming for the sweets. Plus how would you water something like that without the cone getting sogged?
PART 2: What do you use to start seeds in?
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Post by ahntjudy on Jan 11, 2019 11:59:51 GMT -5
I think I would stick to ice cream in my cones and for all the reasons you noted...
Because I already have them, I start my seed in small cell tray inserts that I re-use...or other small containers as needed... Then pot up when it's time...
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 11, 2019 12:00:23 GMT -5
I dunno. I'm not saying it's bad, but I don't think I would.
I start mine in peat pellets and transplant into foam cups. I've done it this way for years and it works for me.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jan 11, 2019 12:08:44 GMT -5
I do the same as Hairy except I use color coded plastic Dixie cups. I make an exception for cucumbers, they go straight into the Dixie cups with potting soil a lot closer to outside planting time.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 11, 2019 12:25:21 GMT -5
spike, I think the ice cream cones would dissolve into goo long before your transplants were ready to be planted. And once they got wet they would be a potent ant attractant! I use plastic cell packs and small plastic pots - I have a bunch of different sizes that I have collected over the years. Some of them I bought new, but most are reused containers that came from veggie transplants and annual flowers I've bought over the years. If you are careful with them - and especially if you store them away from direct sunlight - they can be reused several times before they get brittle. Occasionally I will use Solo cups for large transplants, but they are really top-heavy, so I don't use them as much as I used to. When I have plants outside hardening off, Solo cups with big transplants in them will tip over in the slightest breeze. I have mangled and even broken a bunch of plants that way. Most of the cell packs and small square pots are designed to fit neatly and tightly together in a standard flat. That means they are less likely to tip. EDIT: Except for a few plants that really, really can't cope with having their roots disturbed, it's easy to transplant plants out of plastic pots successfully. And I have found that often peat and other "biodegradable" pots don't degrade that well over the course of a growing season. More than once I have dug up a stunted plant at the end of the season and found that most or all of its roots were still trapped in the peat pot. If I buy plants in peat pots, I peel most of the pot off before I stick the plant in the ground. Peeling peat pots off is tedious; it's much faster to just slip a plant out of a plastic pot. I have never tried the "cow pots" - maybe they degrade more effectively? But they are expensive for a single use item. Also I start my seedlings in my bedroom, so any "aromas" from the cow pots would be a problem. I think I will stick with just using plastic pots and feeding them as needed.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jan 11, 2019 13:02:17 GMT -5
I use peat pellets but when planting I strip off the netting. Since I alway transplant into Dixie cups, I have noticed that the cup is full of roots that penetrated the potting soil from within the pellet.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 11, 2019 13:13:32 GMT -5
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Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2019 13:15:40 GMT -5
I think ice cream cones would be a bad idea for all the reasons listed above. I start mine in cell trays, multiples of each variety in each little cell and then transplant them to the solo type cups when they are small ( see Craig's dense planting methods on eithet T'ville or a video on youtube), and then write on the cup the name and date. I place the solo cups in wal mart cheapie rectangular laundry baskets, mmmm 20 +/- per basket. They stay upright, easy to water and the bottom of the basket will hold about 1 inch of water. Easy to move them or cover with a cheap painters "tar" if cold jumps up. The baskets will even stack 2 high if needed to cover by placing one cross wise on the other until the plants are pretty big. These are kept outside so no hardening off needed. Baskets stack together when not in use and get put away in the greenhouse workroom.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 11, 2019 15:12:08 GMT -5
I also use cell trays and then transplant the seedlings to 4" square plastic pots when they are ready. I re-use the plastic pots but usually not the cell trays. They are pretty flimsy.
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Post by coppice on Jan 12, 2019 4:22:49 GMT -5
Milk jugs for WS-jugs, paper white pans for larger nuts, peanut butter jar terrariums for cuttings.
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Post by paulf on Jan 12, 2019 11:02:56 GMT -5
6 pack, 72 count plastic cells in trays to begin; at first transplant the seedlings go into individual 2 inchX2inch plastic pots, 3 inches tall. All is grown in potting mix. Everything stays in the 2 inch pots until transplanted into the garden. I have tried peat pots several times over the years and it has been disaster every time. I even tried newspaper pots once... what a big soggy blob of a mess. I reuse all the plastic pots, trays and 6 packs until they get so ragged they can't be used.
Ice cream cones I fear would be a big mess as they melt down. Sugar and starch would not hold up for long.
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Post by guruofgardens on Jan 13, 2019 10:45:01 GMT -5
Peat pellets, potting mix work well. I've tried peat pots (nope), paper pots (nope), cow pots (nope), egg cartons (nope). Transplant into McDonald's plastic cups with holes drilled in them. Large size for tomatoes, Medium size for peppers, Small size for broccoli. The cups wash well in the dishwasher and have been used again and again. Plus, they're free. Friends save them for me.
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Post by spike on Jan 13, 2019 12:27:27 GMT -5
I have 2X2 inch square pots I start seeds in and then eventually transplant into solo cups. The square pots are easy to sterilize, so can be reused and my brother had a party with a butt ton of left over solo cups! Free is always good!
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