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media who is using jiffy pellets???or heat pad??

shayneyasinski

shayneyasinski

I bought a heated germination table with 72 jiffy pellets and was wondering if you guys use them??
we have a comercial greenhouse so I am no newbie when it comes to planting seeds and have used these pellets in the past and they work good for seeds like peppers .
As soon as they seedlings show up they will be moved to the big greenhouse so no indoor lighting here ..
I am a firm believer in the heated pad or any way of heating soil to germinate seeds as we have a big 60 tray table in our big greenhouse .
As a test I have planted the same seeds but will not heat some to see how the heated pad does for speeding up germination...
I have a 99% germination rate .
 
I always use heat for germination but I have grown out of using jiffys for peppers since finding better methods.
 
I germinate my seeds in cups, heated of course.
In the cups there's only standard (clean) potting soil.
When the plants are big enough, I transplant them into pots with humus.
I don't handle big plants, so I never had to. but some say for big plants you want just the top layer to be humus, not the entire soil.
 
I've been using them all my life for all kinda plants and never had any problems. They are easy to store, too.

When growing chilis I do not use them for germination, though. I prefer to let my seeds germinate on paper towels to avoid wasting space and pellets.

I don't use a heat pad, but place the small "greenhouse" on the heater (with some space inbetween). This way I am not using up any extra energy for the heat pad, because at this time of the year the heater is on anyway. I am turning it down a bit at night - it is also getting colder at night on the outside, so this should give my babies good conditions for growing. So far they are looking fine! :lol:
 
Against all of my better judgement, my seeds are in miracle grow soil, in the relatively cold basement, and they are sprouting in no time.

My heirloom bells sprouted in 7 days.
My Brazillian trades came up in 9-10 days
My nagas came up in 8 days.

Only stragglers are red habs and Trini Scorpions, and most of my mystery peppers.
 
This is the first year I'm starting hot peppers. I read on this site...http://ecoseeds.com/Pepper.growing.tips.html....which frowns on jiffy pellets and recomend miracle grow cactus mix, and also recomends a heating tray....so I went to wally world and bought a electric heating pad in the pharmacy. Wanting to get seeds started in the next day or two. Since we are under a snow storm warning here in Illinois...I may have plenty of time on my hands.
 
You can use Jiffy Peat Pellets, lots of people do. The drawback is that the seedlings have to be transplanted soon after germination to a larger container. Peppers don't really like having their roots disrupted, so you have to be very careful about transplanting them. A lot of us here feel for the work involved and the potential for stressing the plants, it's easier to to start the seeds in something larger.

If you're looking for a commercial seed starting set up, you can buy trays with Jiffy strips at the same display at Walmart as the Jiffy pellets. They're rectangular formed peat seed starting containers that are a little larger than the peat pellets. You'll still have to transplant to a large container; but not as quickly.

Everybody has a favorite way to start their seeds. There is no right or wrong way to start seeds as long as the seeds grow and you're pleased with the results. I like to use 9 or 15 ounce plastic drinking cups purchased at Walmart and filled with Jiffy Seed Starting Mix. I use a shallow plastic storage container also purchased at Walmart to hold the cups. I warm them with a seed starting mat, and have them under florescent shop lights.
 
Good God it is fun!

It is kind of like the lotto...I run to the basement almost everyday to see what has come up.

Yesterday....3 Nagas!!! Hells Yes. I have started seeds for years, it never loses it's charm.

Just remember to shoot for the number of plants you can actually put in the ground come May. You want some spares of your favorites, but realize you may have to euthanize them.

I went ballistic my first year and had nearly twice the number of plants I could actually use.
 
ddrsheden said:
This is the first year I'm starting hot peppers. I read on this site...http://ecoseeds.com/Pepper.growing.tips.html....which frowns on jiffy pellets and recomend miracle grow cactus mix, and also recomends a heating tray....so I went to wally world and bought a electric heating pad in the pharmacy. Wanting to get seeds started in the next day or two. Since we are under a snow storm warning here in Illinois...I may have plenty of time on my hands.
Click to expand...

Don't trust what Redwood City(Ecoseeds) says, they appear to be a bunch of morons (or scammers).
 
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