I'll be starting all my veggie seeds in the coming weeks.. I plan to start a lot.. my question is: what can I use as pots? Is it worth it to by little seed-starting pots, or something? Can I use the bottom parts or water bottles? Paper cups? Tin cans? Will it hurt the plants when I transplant them into the garden if I use something that's not meant for starting seeds?



--Mark--

Hi Mark!! I use what ever I can get my hands on!! Paper cups plastic cups.. Pudding cups I save all my packages from buying flowers the year before so I use those too... I do use seed starter soil though... Hope it helped you out!!

I am thinking Dixie cups would be something good and cheap to use as pots...

I have the little Jiffy greenhouses with those little peat buttons that I am starting some in, but if I run out, I will be using Dixie cups with soil...

i've been collecting cardboard egg cartons...

my neighbors thought i was nuts when i requested they give them to me instead of throwing them out!!

they're the perfect size for starting seeds and the cardboard can be sliced with a razor before transplanting outside - the roots will grow through the slits and the cardboard will eventually decompose...

Thanks for all the info, everyone!

Mark, I'm using the cardboard egg cartons for my small seeds and drilled holes in yogurt cups for my larger flower seeds (e.g. hibiscus and cannas) and fill them with Pro-Mix.

I use Styrofoam cups and they are cheap also...as far as soil, for starting seeds I use Promix or jiffy soiless mix and then when seedlings have true leaves I transplant into the cups using potting soil. Before transplanting any container will work for seeds starting...make sure you poke drainage holes in the bottom of anything you use.

Possible seed starting and also growing containers:

Butter tubs
Cottage cheese containers
Pudding containers
Applesauce containers
Plastic deli containers
Plastic meat containers
Styrofoam cups
Paper cups
Homemade newspaper pots
egg cartons (seed starting only, as they are to shallow for growing in)

The list is endless..Good Luck with your seed starting!!!

well being this is the Organic section, to start seeds I use Fertil pots. They are Organic and biodegradable. You also get better root development, the roots can penetrate right through the pots where peat pots (like jiffy) the roots can not penetrate though until the pots start to break down, and at that point the natural root structure has been altered.

You can find Fertil pots many places, but they are not sold under their brand name. I get them at Kmart but have seem them at Walmart. You know they are wood fiber pots and not peat pot because they do NOT have holes in them (peat pots have holes). They do not need drain holes because they are porous, and this allows for more air to get to the roots for healthier root development.

Then you can just transplant the plants out, pots and all. No pulling the bottom or sides off the pots.

Thanks a bunch! This might be something I'd be interested in experimenting with! Do you know if they would be good for propagating my cuttings?

I use them for propagation also ( I teach plant propagation at the local collage)

Thanks!

are you using a sterile blade for cuts?
are you using a rooting hormone? of for soft tissue?
what type of soil mix are you using?
so you provide heat from bottom?
do you mist them?
are you monitoring for fungus gnats?

are they rotting out? how are they not taking? no roots at all?

Wow, that's a lot of questions so I'm going to number them.

1. Yes, I'm using a sterile X-acto knife and cutting them at an angle.

2. Yes, I'm using Ferti-lome Rooting Powder.

3. Pro-Mix

4. No, I'm not providing bottom heat, could that be the problem?

5. No, I don't mist the cutting, but I use my mister to dampen the soil.

6. Yes, I'm constantly checking them for any signs of disease or bugs.

7. No, they are not rotting out, some of them are just not forming roots.

Actually, I'm having about a 99% success rate with my Pelargonium Geraniums, but only about a 60% success rate with the Ivy Geraniums. I'm not using bottom heat with either of them. Are the Ivy Geranium harder to start? This is my first try at trying to propagate the Ivy Geraniums.

might try a little higher rooting hormone concentrate and or bottom heating.

have any photos of your cuttings?

Thanks!

No, I don't have any pictures of my cuttings and I can't take any unless I can borrow a digital camera from someone. I'll see if I can do that next week when my one of my friends comes back in town.

I have gone to using a liquid hormone.. i like it a lot more then powdered. I can mix up different concentrations depending on what i am rooting.

Does it keep longer? Who makes it and where can you get it? Sorry about all the questions.

I get mine from a commercial horticultural supply company. I am sure you could find some thought the Internet in smaller quantities for homeowner use.

I start my seeds in a wheelbarrow filled
with 1/2 compost, 1/3 seed starting soil in a bag that's marked for seeds' and 1/3 perlite/vermiculit.. and mix and fill my 6~paks with...

I agree , use whatever you can get your hands on . I have peat pots and peat pellets that you just start the seeds and plant the pot and all into the ground . I also have egg cartons , dixie cups , all kinds of old plant starter pots that a friend was going to throw out and I grabbed them . I put them in a mini greenhouse on the front porch that gets lots of sun and keeps them warm , on cold nights I do have a few heat matts out there and an old heat pad that my husband does not use anymore . Just to keep them warm overnight . I have grow lights in the house for some of the more fussy ones . So just use whatever you can find to start them in . It is not that hard to do and alot cheaper than using store bought prestarted seedlings .