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media Best way to water peat pots?

OhioGrown

OhioGrown

I've recently transplanted my seedlings from their germination kit to peat pots filled with Happy Frog soil. I know having the surface wet is not good for them (fungus, damping off). I have 15 pots per tray. I was thinking of poking a hole in the corner of the tray so when I watered, I could plug the hole with my finger, and fill the tray with water, letting the pots soak up the water from below. Any suggestions or help? The peat pots are 4 inch round, with peat pellets in them from the germination kit. I soaked all the pots for a little bit when I transplanted the seedlings into them.

thanks, michael
 
According to a website I've found that seems to have pretty useful information, it says never to use peat pots, or anything containing peat. I'd suggest using plastic pots, and watering them from underneath.

You can see the website I'm refering to here: http://www.ecoseeds.com/Pepper.growing.tips.html
 
yeah, i've already decided to do plastic pots next year. I've always gotten plants from a local greenhouse in the peat pots, and it was always real easy to just plant the whole thing. I will be trimming off the tops of the pots this year when planting. . .
 
any germination soil or medium is all about consistency... commercial greenhouses use something like 50% ultra fine verm, and 50% sifted fine peat. its super fluffed and very lightweight and porous. ive tried germing in the crappy ff warrior stuff, and its terrible. too much perlite, and shredded bark. or w/e it is.

peat is not bad for germination in my experiance, its always the crappy consistency, and unsterilized soil.
 
um, quee, i'm getting alot of my seeds to germinate in the peat pellets. now that i've put them into peat pots i was asking how to water them the best. thanks though.
 
Peat is fine, I use it every year for all my peppers and vegetables. Just fill the bottom of the tray about a half an inch and let them puppies soak for a few mins the water will disappear. I do suggest using a daisy tray in your trays if you have excess water its easier to drain any excess water just lift and dump out the other tray, or reuse the water
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Dustin said:
According to a website I've found that seems to have pretty useful information, it says never to use peat pots, or anything containing peat. I'd suggest using plastic pots, and watering them from underneath.

You can see the website I'm refering to here: http://www.ecoseeds.com/Pepper.growing.tips.html
Click to expand...

Be careful with following that website, Dustin. I think we all find that one in our first forays into chile growing, but it isn't the best source of info. The peat thing, for example, is kind of silly considering their top recommended potting mix contains quite a bit of peat.

 
I tried to use peat pots last year, but it was too hard to keep the plants happy in them. They drew the moisture out of the soil and killed a few of my plants. However, the best way to water them i found was to set the pot in some water until it absorbed enough.
 
Best way to use peat pots is don't use them. Unless you get your moisture levels bang on they seem to cause slow root growth and the roots have a hard time growing through them.
 
StupidJerk said:
Be careful with following that website, Dustin. I think we all find that one in our first forays into chile growing, but it isn't the best source of info. The peat thing, for example, is kind of silly considering their top recommended potting mix contains quite a bit of peat.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the followup. I was using it more of a reference to the germination rates, seed storage ideas, and soil tests. I did go with the organic choice miracle-gro and it seems to be doing well so far. I'm still surprised it takes 30 days for my tepins to germinate, although I did see a few pop up after 1 week.

Didn't mean to get off topic, but to go back on topic, I've always used under watering and it seems to keep the plants happier and healthier.
 
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