For ten years now I have become addicted to picking seedlings into peat pots. Conveniently. Carefully. But the main thing is that when transplanting into open ground, the seedling does not need to be taken out: you drop it right in the pot. And the root system is intact, not damaged, and the plant is provided with “tasty” and healthy nutrition at the most stressful time after planting. Indeed, in moist soil, peat quickly decomposes into the elements necessary for growing seedlings and is immediately absorbed by the roots.
How peaty are they?
The “correct” pot is indeed 70-80% peat. The remaining 20-30% of additives are food cardboard, pulp and humus. This base strengthens the composition, allowing the walls and bottom not to get wet and fall apart from watering ahead of time.
Be sure to ask when buying the composition of the pots! There are cheaper, but low-quality products, where the bulk is cardboard. We don't need it. In the soil, it will dissolve, and the utility from it is zero.
Is it suitable for everyone?
Not everyone. And for the group of crops that prefer acidic soils:
- Of the vegetables, this is the whole nightshade family: peppers, tomatoes, eggplants of all kinds. Likes sourness and white cabbage.
- From gourds (they are often also grown in seedlings) - watermelons, melons.
- From berries - garden strawberries and strawberries. Mustaches intended for planting can be dropped into such pots right on the garden bed, without separating the mustache from the main bush.
- Of the shrubs - honeysuckle, currants, raspberries and blackberries.
- From flowers - lilies, hydrangeas, lupins.
But in practice, most often peat pots are used for seedlings of cucumbers and tomatoes.
Who doesn't want
But for Beijing cabbage, onions, garlic - in a word, lovers of alkaline soils - peat is not suitable. I plant them in simple disposable cups.
Advantages
- Peat pots "breathe". Still, the seedlings do not stay in them for a day or two, and the fact that their root system is in comfortable conditions, does not rot and receives oxygen, is very important for development.
- The pots are eco-friendly.
- They quickly dissolve in the soil, enriching its composition and feeding the plant.
Flaws
Perhaps the only one is their one-time use. However, you quickly come to terms with it. And the price of pots is low, quite a budget option. I wholeheartedly advise everyone who has not yet appreciated the advantage of this landing method to test it and make sure of its undoubted benefits.
Read also: Let's see if it is worth leaving a polycarbonate greenhouse open in winter or not.
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