Jiffy peat pellets

[dcarch]

I pulled this out today. As you can see the Jiffy pellet netting never decomposted around the root ball. It seemed to restrict the root's growth quite a bit. However, I have not tried to grow, side-by-side, and see if Jiffy pots actually prevent plant growth comparing with other methods.

dcarch

[Tania]

in my experience, the Jiffy pellets do not restrict plant growth. I did grew them side-by-side, with and without, didn't notice a diffirence. Tomato roots are strong enough to push through and tore the mesh.

I know some people also mentioned that they remove the mesh from the pellets from the very beginning - as long as the roots are not long enough to poke through the mesh yet.

I do notice dramatic (in some cases) difference when a seedling was grown in peat moss mix vs. heavier soil - the plants turn out to be much healthier and more vigorous when started in peat moss mix. I suspect this is because the roots get much more consistent moisute and lots of oxygen, and root system develops much better at the earlier phases of plant development. Pepper seedlings are especially sensitive to that, in my experience

[tomakers]

I have seen this many times, but I don't think it really affects plant growth much. Nevertheless, I always pull of the netting before planting (even if the roots are growing through it). I am not tender with tomatoes, they are among the most forgiving of plants (they really do want to reproduce).

[carolyn137]

A long time ago on a planet far away I used Jiffy Pellets but no more.

Since I feel so strongly about transplanting small seedlings there's no way I would direct seed into them and so use a separate seed pan or pans.

Then I transplant directly into trays with large plastic cells that contain Jiffy Mix, the loose kind. And I find this works far better than using the pellets.

When I threw out a carton of peat pots I also threw out all the Jiffy Pellets I had.

And I never did take off the mesh when planting the tomatoes and peppers and eggplant that I used to grow in them, for two years only, and yes it was still there at the end of the season. But I never did any direct comparisons so I don't know if it restricts root growth, altho I doubt that it would.

I just can't see paying a premium for the pellets when the same mix is available loose. and again, I would never seed the pellets directly either.

Carolyn, who I guess is so shy and passive that she never says what she's really thinking.

[michael johnson]

I cant bear jiffy peat pellets at any price, as I always had trouble with the netting round them and what few I did use I cut straight down the side of the netting with a pair of scissors and carefully pulled it off and discarded it.

I once used to use them for striking fuchsia cuttings in, which they seemed to work alright until the plants were a couple of months old and transfered into large pots- just as they were, according to the instructions etc, still in the jiffy pellet .

At a later date some of the Fuchsia plants began to wither and die, on tipping out the pot contents I saw that the netting was trapping and suffocating any further root growth, I managed to save one or two after I had ripped off the netting and re-planted them into the loose compost again.

Later that day I took the 100 or so jiffy pellets I still had left and dumped them, and never bothered with them again

[LoreD]

I have never had much success with the either the jiffy pellets or the jiffy peat pots. When I used the peat pots the pot seemed to pull all of the moisture out and I had to water continuously. When I used the pellets I also had to cut the netting off before transplanting.

The jiffy products were a lot of work and caused a lot of problems and I threw them away and never used them again. The seedling starter mix and soil blocks worked great for me.

LoreD

[MikeInCypress]

I always use them. Start 3 seeds per pellet. Usually by transplant time I Have at least 2 plants. Pull one and grow it on on in Jiffy Mix in a 16 oz styrofoam cup. With the Jiffy pellet I remove the mesh before I put it in the styrofoam cup. I put the pellet in the bottom and filll the cup with the mix. Works well if the seedlings are leggy.

I rarely want more than two or three of any variety so this method works for me.

Michael

[cottonpicker]

I use the ""Carolyn method"" for tomato plants but for Chinese cabbages / Bok Choy I use "Jiffy 7s" since those plants, in particular , do not like their roots disturbed & I always want some early transplants to start the season off while direct-seeding for a succession crop.

LarryD

[amideutch]

This spring I planted over 80 plants in Jiffy 7's or a copy of and my seedlings all came up without a problem. I later transplanted to 5" plastic pots and grew till planting time. They are more forgiving in the seedling stage if you forget to water as they hold moisture longer than those planted in trays with small compartments. Tried some Burpee units with a bottom tray for watering and they just didn't work out.
I just pulled up my 8 plants at work and all had a nice root system and I did not see any reminants of the Jiffy 7's. So I guess it boils down to different strokes for different folks. Ami

[where_with_all]

I have used them with great success for starting seeds. I think the key is to transplant them when the roots start to protrude throuh the netting. I usually rip the netting off an then transplant the seedlings into bigger pots.

Never had a problem

[jenn_sc]

My method is just like Michael's. I love peat pellets b/c they are so mess free...important, since I only have the kitchen counter for workspace in the winter. I don't plant but a few dozen seeds each year, so the cost isn't a problem. I also get two or three per pellet. They always seem to do well so I haven't wanted to mess with a good thing

Jennifer

[sirtanon]

I've used the peat pellets in the past, with mixed results. I have found that with the pellets, you have to be careful not to overwater, because they WILL soak up any excess water until they are completely saturated.

My first year using the pellets, I made this mistake, and only 1 or 2 of the 12 pellets I had seeded actually produced... and even they didn't look very happy for quite some time.

On the other hand, THIS year, I did the Jiffy-7 12-pack mini-greenhouse and was very careful to water just enough - That is, pour in about 1/3 cup of water at a time, and then wait to water until the pellets looked dry on the surface. Out of 12 pellets seeded, all 12 had 100% germination. Within about 10 days, every single pellet had roots sticking out of it.

Of course, by the time this happens, they dry out pretty much daily, so I found myself putting in about 1/2 cup of water each time, this time with a very light (about 1/10th the usual) MG dose every other day.

When I replanted the seedlings, I made sure to tear off the netting on each and every one. If you water them first and pull downward very slowly, you won't break off many roots.. of course, I didn't really worry too much about that - maters are tough even at that age.

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My only real complaint at this point is that they're not as easy to split apart. Usually, when I start seeds in small styro cups and use peat moss/vermiculite mix, I can very easily separate the seedlings from each other, but with the peat pellets, it's such a spongy mass, it can be difficult to pull them apart without severing roots... nevertheless, they're easy, and if you just have 1 or 2 seeds per pellet, there's very little difficulty splitting them.

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Price-wise, they can be pricey sometimes, but if you look in the right place, they're great..

Just yesterday, I bought a 25-pack of pellets from the local 99-cent store for...... $0.99!!!

The time before that, I bought a couple of the Jiffy-7 12-pack mini-greenhouses, and one Jiffy-7 72-pack greenhouse from Walmart on clearance at the end of the growing season.. the 12-packs were $0.97 each, and the 72-pack was $2.50 if I recall. Storage space in my garage is pretty much free at this point

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by MikeInCypress

I always use them. Start 3 seeds per pellet. Usually by transplant time I Have at least 2 plants. Pull one and grow it on on in Jiffy Mix in a 16 oz styrofoam cup. With the Jiffy pellet I remove the mesh before I put it in the styrofoam cup. I put the pellet in the bottom and filll the cup with the mix. Works well if the seedlings are leggy.

I rarely want more than two or three of any variety so this method works for me.

Michael

You're paying a premium for the Jiffy Pots/Jiffy Pellets because they are supposed to be able to go directly in the ground. I thought that's the "gimmick" that people are paying extra for.

Then you're avoiding the problems people are talking about here by potting up into styrofoam cups. I guess using Jiffy Pellets has just gotten to be a habit?

Not to knock what is obviously working for you, just curious.

[MikeInCypress]

I use the pellets for seed starting and avoid "damping off" Then I pot up to th 20 oz cups or 4x4 pots so I end up with 8-10"tall transplants. I start around 80 varieties but not more than 100 plants. so I spend around $10.00 for the Jiffy 7's and I get 95 % germination or higher. It works for me.

MikeInCypress (who is planting out this week end)