Cups, cups, cups.

[antonylord]

I figure I'll need to shift my seedlings out from the seed raiser (still a good few weeks up my sleeve).

Since many of the plants are eventually going to friends (either destined for pots or the garden bed) I figured I'd go for cups. The routine size will make packing them in the heated / lit growing area easier too.

But the options :

* Foam - great temperature insulating but that will work against me when using them on the heat mat while I keep raising them
* Plastic (clear) - are there issues with light being able to reach the roots?
* Plastic (not clear) - solves the above
* Paper (waxed) - not sure about the issues here

Obviously I'll make small holes in the bottom!

I also figured using something like a pint size cup (473ml) might give some extended growing time than the short lived stage in a coffee (~270ml) cup.

Does planting a paper cup in a garden bed really work (recycling sites always so to do this with milk cartons and the like but I'm a little dubious!)

Thoughts and or ideas people?

Cheers, Antony.

 

[POTAWIE]

Plastic clear or not should be fine but I prefer square pots personally.

 

[AlabamaJack]

I used clear plastic 9 oz (270 ml) cups for my first transplant out of the starter trays and it worked really well....however, for my second transplanting, I used the 3" square containers...they pack better and are not that expensive...my nursery sold me the 20 count trays plus the containers for $2 USD each....I like the 3" square containers better but will still use 9 oz cups because I will be raising so many seedlings in the coming years....

My transplant routine is seedstarter tray to 3" square containers to 6" round containers, then to 5 gallon pots...this is what I did with my contest Nagas and Red Savinas and must say, they are the healthiest of all my plants...

I would stay away from paper...some on this site have said you get a mold problem with paper...

 

[ring sting]

AJ, what size hole did you put in the bottom of the 9oz cups?

 

[AlabamaJack]

AJ, what size hole did you put in the bottom of the 9oz cups?

three 1/4" holes drilled

 

[antonylord]

I like the 3" square containers

I'm going to have to see what I can find out at the larger "landscape" garden suppliers further out of town.

Oddly the local hardware giant runs a pot recycling station (drop off your old empty plant pots) - I'm almost tempted to raid it. Hey, its recycling

 

[ring sting]

TY AJ!

 

[wordwiz]

I'm leaning toward the 3" square plastic containers. If I build a table that is approximately 3' wide by 6' long, I would have room for 150 plants, a place to store supplies, move plants around, etc. Eight LED lights would be enough to cover the growing area (monthly cost- $5.00) and a waterbed heater would keep the area warm enough for germination.

I found the square pots are easier to work with and give the plants lots of room to grow.

Mike

 

[VtPepper]

This is what I did.

this was what they grew to be in the cups

They even made pods

 

[wordwiz]

VtPepper,

Some impressive plants!

Mike

 

[Omri]

This is what I did.

Even though it's impressive, less root mass means less growth.
Nothing you can't solve by adding a few specific hormones, but that's the natural thing.

 

[VtPepper]

Once it was warm enough to go outside they all got potted up into bigger pots but while inside my little kitchen, had I potted them up I would not have been able to cook. 162 big pots take up lots of space. But the cups worked well till spring came. After repoting in the spring the plants got really big.

 

[rabbit]

I use whatever coffee cups there are at work. The first batch it was clear plastic cups with holes in the bottom and this batch is styrofoam cups. To start my seedlings in I actually planted them in seed starter mix in one of the egglands best egg cartons. I like using that because it's clear has 12 little grow sections that easily scoop out the seedling with a tablespoon, and I can conveniently close the lid to keep the humidity in. Honestly, if all I had were beer cans with the tops cut off I'd probably use that too.