Plastic pots?

[puzzley]

For a number of years I've used 5" peat pots when I potted up my tomato seedlings. However, this year, my ambition and desire to try new varieties is straining the capacity of my light tables. My wife has a number of 4" plastic pots that fit into plastic holders, and if I use these, I can increase the plants on the table by about 20%. However, I've never used plastic pots, and am unfamiliar with them for seedling tomatoes. I know a number of you use plastic cups and such, so I was wondering if you had any advice, suggestions, or things to watch for when using plastic.

Thanks, Puzz

[shelleybean]

I used to use peat pots and didn't like them. I've been using plastic for several years now and really prefer it. I don't think there's anything special you need to do with them. After I remove the plants, I rinse them in a 10% bleach solution and then rinse with plain water and then store them until next time.

[barefootgardener]

Be sure your plastic pots are clean and have drainage holes in bottom...And like shelley I re-use mine, so I make sure to clean each one after taking out the plants...When marking on plastic..the writing tends to fade away pretty quickly when exposed to the elements..

[Mischka]

Plastic also performs much better for me than peat. No white mold, no rapid soggy/dry cycles, much better even watering and less messy, overall. You might think this is less environmentally-friendly, but the reverse is true. It uses more non-renewable resources and energy to produce a peat pot than a plastic one and, if you reuse the plastic pot the impact is reduced even more with each season.

I also reuse them, after disinfecting with a bleach solution. I once used the dishwasher for this a few seasons ago, but that didn't go over too well with Mrs. M.

[pdxwindjammer]

I am no pro but I currently have over 100 tomatoes potted up in 4 inch pots and they are ALL thriving.

As a bonus, I didn't pay a dime for them. I go to my local nursery and scrounge them from the recycle bin.

[puzzley]

Thanks for your replies, plastic it is!

[OneoftheEarls]

I got mine at school, they are recycled breakfast bowls and fit the nursery holders perfectly. I will post photos next week.

Just don't over water. Similar to Mischka, I have had issues with mold with peat.

[TZ-OH6]

When it comes time to unpot, just run a butter knife around the inside and "spank" the bottom to pop the plant out. Don't worry if you end up with a loose handfull of roots and soil, that is better to transplant than a tight rootball. I will usually smoosh out a tight rootball so that it mixes with the garden soil better.

If using cups like plastic better than styrofoam because I bottom water by putting the pots/cups in a tub of water/fertilizer as deep as the pots and the styrofoam tend to float to much. Waxed paper cups are nice because you can tear them away at planting time.

[recruiterg]

I have used both, too. I now use 18 oz solo cups. They are $10 for 240 cups at Costco. I like solo cups because the roots can grow deeper. I don't like Jiffy Pots, becuase they tend to dry out to fast. I also don't think tomatoes mind at all if you tussle up their roots a little prior to planting out...although some would disagree with me on this. If I used Jiffy Pots, I would remove the pot at plant out time.

[huntoften]

Thumbs up for the plastic pots! I used to use peat and the jiffy pellets...had nothing but problems. I hit the recycle bin at a local nursery and scrounged a lot of great plastic pots. For most of my plants though I use the 10 oz cups from Costco and drill a hole in the bottom...works great!

[John3]

huntoften
What size hole 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch?

[huntoften]

5/8 actually I think...whatever decent sized bit I have handy. I keep them stacked and drill a bunch at a time.

[John3]

Thanks a bunch

[RonnyWil]

I too use the plastic cups from Costco. I have used them for the last 5 years and I was using peat pellets before that. The pellets had that annoying netting around it that was a pain to remove.

I tried drilling holes in the cups at first but found that it's time consuming. I now use a soldering gun turned upside down on a bench between two bricks. There are eight dimples on the bottom of the cups and I melt a hole in every other one. It's much quicker and easy to go from a stack on one side of me to a stack of completed ones on the other, kinda like an assembly line.

[lefty_logan]

I use the fast food wax paper cups for my seedlings. I cut them about 3/4 from the top.