How to choose the right seedling container

Recommendation points

• Plastic pots
• Wooden or plastic boxes
• Peat pots
• Peat cassettes
• Peat tablets
• Plastic cassettes
• Containers from scrap materials
• Eggshell

Second half of March – early April: it’s time to plant seeds of tomatoes, cabbage, eggplants and other crops for seedlings. In the article we will consider the possible options, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, give advice on choosing a container that is ideal for your seedlings..

Plastic and peat cassettes of various sizes, peat pots and tablets, various plastic and ceramic containers – from all this variety, when visiting specialized stores, your eyes run up. It is very difficult, not having enough experience, to choose and buy an option that is suitable for your purposes. In addition, seedling containers can be made independently from materials available on the farm. So let’s take a look at all this variety..

Plastic pots

Many experienced gardeners consider plastic pots to be the best option for growing seedlings of various crops. Today pots of various sizes are on sale, which allows you to sow almost all crops in them..

The main advantage of this container is that in this case, picking of the seedlings is not required, and when transplanting, you can easily cross a young plant without damaging the root system. However, such pots are very inconvenient to carry and place on window sills, which is especially important in the conditions of small apartments..

Wooden or plastic boxes

This option will significantly save space and simplify the care of seedlings – the boxes can be ideally selected or made to fit the window sill, they are very convenient to carry.

Plastic boxes can be bought at the store, and wooden ones are easily knocked together from ordinary boards. During manufacturing, it is also necessary to make a stand of plywood and cover the bottom of the box with polyethylene, otherwise, when watering, water will seep onto the windowsill.

Boxes are a simple and affordable option, but it will be almost impossible to extract young plants from the ground without damaging their roots. In addition, the weight of a wooden box filled with earth will be quite noticeable..

Peat pots

The most popular option today is growing seedlings in pressed peat pots. This environmentally friendly material does not contain toxins and reliably protects young plants from infection with pathogens.

Peat pots come in different sizes, so they can be used both for picking and for growing seedlings of various crops from seeds – the main thing is to choose the right volume.

This container is very convenient to use. You just buy or prepare your own soil mixture, moisten it, put it in pots, slightly compact – that’s it, the container is ready for planting.

The porous walls of the pots provide an ideal air-water regime in the root zone, so the seedlings grow quickly and develop well.

When transplanted into open ground, the root system of young plants is not injured. Seedlings are planted in the hole right along with the pot, through the walls of which the roots germinate easily. This feature allows for almost 100% survival rate. The pots themselves decompose after a while in the soil and serve as an excellent fertilizer..

Along with the undeniable benefits of peat pots, there are some disadvantages to keep in mind, especially if you are limited in time:

1. The soil in such a container should not be allowed to dry out, otherwise it will lag behind the walls and turn into a solid lump.
2. It is also impossible to overflow seedlings – the walls of peat pots can become sour or moldy, and the soil will look like jelly.

As practice shows, in order to avoid problems, it is better not to sow seeds in peat pots, but to use them for picking grown seedlings, in which the root system is already sufficiently developed and is able to regulate the water regime.

Peat cassettes

Peat cassettes – sections that consist of a certain number of cells of different sizes, in appearance they strongly resemble paper trays for eggs.

Peat cassettes have the same advantages and disadvantages as peat pots, with the only difference that these sections are very convenient to carry from place to place and transport.

Peat tablets

Peat tablet – fine fraction peat compressed in the form of a tablet with the addition of nutrients necessary for a young plant. The outside of the tablet is wrapped in a strong thin mesh.

Today you can buy peat tablets of different diameters – from 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters. They are very quickly and easily prepared for planting, you don’t even need a soil mixture, since a peat tablet already contains all the necessary nutrients.

The tablets are stacked on a pallet, filled with water, after which they increase in height by approximately 6-7 times. Seeds are planted in a recess on top. Due to the fact that peat has optimal air and water permeability, the seedlings feel great, their root system develops quickly and without hindrance.

The main disadvantages of peat tablets are:

1. Quite high cost, especially if you plan to plant a lot of seedlings.
2. When using them, it is necessary to strictly control the humidity so that the peat does not dry out..

Plastic cassettes

Cassettes for growing seedlings, made of polystyrene or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), are light, convenient, portable containers with a lot of advantages:

• affordability;
• durability – they can be used for 8-10 years;
• compactness – a lot of space is not required to store them, since if they are of the same size, they can be folded into each other;
• when transplanting seedlings into open ground, the roots are not damaged.

Today it has been proven that it is best to use polystyrene cassettes, because polyvinyl chloride contains dangerous chlorine, which can have a negative effect on human health..

Plastic cassettes are usually standard size, but they are easy to cut and fit to your windowsill. The number of cells can be different – from 18 pieces or more (depending on the volume of each).

Each cell in polystyrene cassettes is specially perforated to provide the necessary air-water regime, allowing young plants to grow and develop quickly.

Polystyrene seedling cassettes are recommended for growing seedlings of crops that do not tolerate picking (different types of sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, tomatoes). In this case, 1–2 seeds are sown in each cell, the seedlings grow here until the very transplant.

Containers from scrap materials

Many gardeners for growing seedlings adapt the various containers available on the farm or make them themselves from plastic bags, plastic bottles, newspapers.

A good option for sowing seeds are milk and juice tetrapaks, as well as plastic jars of yoghurt, sour cream, boxes of cakes and rolls. At the bottom, holes are made with the heated end of a screwdriver to drain excess water, fill with soil mixture and plant seeds.

You can make a container for seedlings from plastic bottles by cutting them across into 2-3 parts. These pots are made without a bottom, so they are placed on suitable trays before filling with the substrate..

Some people use self-made cups from old newspapers to grow seedlings. To do this, take a bottle of the required diameter and wrap it from below with a piece of newspaper (30 cm long and 15 cm high). An allowance for the bottom is left at the bottom, and the edges are glued or fastened with paper clips.

Polyethylene cups are made in the same way. The edges in this case are soldered using a heated knife blade.

Eggshell

For growing seedlings of small plants, you can use eggshells, which are harvested during the fall and winter. For this, the egg is not completely broken, but a hole is made from the side of the sharp end. And from below, using an awl or a sharp knitting needle, a puncture is made to drain water.

The prepared shell is thoroughly washed and dried, and before planting the seeds, they are placed in a regular cardboard egg tray, filled with a substrate and the seeds are sown. When planting grown seedlings, the shell is crushed in the hand and the plant is planted in the ground.

For growing seedlings, you can use various containers – in this case it all depends on your goals, preferences and financial capabilities.