Starting Seeds In Peat Pellets

[Bogateer]

I used the peat pellets this year. had some problem with them yellowing between 2 and 4 leaves. about 1/3 of my plants only grew to 3' tall with very small leaf. when I up rooted the stalks the peat pellet had stunted those plants. they work ok; I wont use them next year tho.

 

[KayBobby]

I tried some peat pellets this year and they SUCKED! The other mediums I used were a float tray and in a separate container some Styrofoam cups (used as a float tray) all with "float tray soil". The float tray stuff all grew like gangbusters, the peat pellets barely grew so I transferred them into Styrofoam cups with the float tray soil and they've almost caught up.

Randy B

ps... did I already say that peat pellets suck?.. if I didn't.. peat pellets suck

I’m going to demystify the “why” of jiffy peat pellets landing on some ppls shit list and on others hits list:

it has very little to do with what’s in them (yes most have some lime in them but not much) so almost always the ph will be between 5 & 5.5

So what is the deciding factor on if they will work for you or not?

it’s very simple - it’s the ph of the water you use!!! If you use ph Neutral water, they will be acidic and you chances of having good success will be lessened significantly! If you use acidic water, failure is almost certain! But if you use basic water (most city water already has calcium and magnesium in it and sits at a ph above 8) this is where you see good success with peat pellets!
if you use water that goes through a water softener, you’re most likely doomed even if you skip the peat pellets all together!

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum @KayBobby. You have miraculously resurrected a 6 year old thread, with useful thoughts. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.

Bob

 

[Wayn3]

I had this discussion with someone on a facebook group. His answer was, as soon as the seeds germinate, he used a nitrogen fertilizer which the seedlings loved therefore flourished, soaked up from underneath. He mentioned he used 2x 1.5kg bags for 2-300 plants, throughout from seedlings to maturity. He had no problems of burning roots by using too much. Not sure of his dose for new sprouted seedlings though. In New Zealand its the "Tui Nitrophoska Blue". N-P-K 12-5.2-14 + S, Mg he used.
I'm not technical about this so read opinions a lot + own experience. Its what I'm going to try later this year (Southern Hemisphere). Have heard some have had good success with the peat pellets & tobacco here in NZ, & will give it a go.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Something doesn't add up. So he says he used 3000g of 12-5.2-14 for 200+ plants over the course of an entire year?

That means that he used 360g of Nitrogen for about 1800 square feet. That works out to 20lbs per acre which is about a seventh to a quarter of the required nitrogen for tobacco.

He must either have amazing soil, just had it delivered, be adding more than he says he is, have suffering tobacco plants, or be adding something else like manure.

It's ok to add fertilizer to water for seedlings. Be sure there's no urea.

 

[Wayn3]

I'm not sure. There was a photo & the plants looked good & very close together. Seemed not well spaced out, many crammed close together in a lesser area.
Thanks for the info about urea...

 

[skychaser]

It's ok to add fertilizer to water for seedlings. Be sure there's no urea.

Miracle Grow contains Urea Phosphate as its primary nitrogen source, which is also an anti-fungal agent, and it is all I ever use. It is no problem at all. There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about using Urea based fertilizers and as to when you can use them and it what amounts, Now if I were to go out and apply a good dose of straight Urea from bagged fertilizer, which if I remember correctly is 48% nitrogen, and then plant new seedlings the same day in that ground, it would burn the crap out of the roots and likely kill them. If I waited 2-3 weeks to plant, (rain fall and temps also factor in too) the Urea will break down and distribute the nitrogen into the soil evenly. Then it's no problem. Bagged Urea is a super potent source of nitrogen. It's all about timing and dosage. Kind of like using the super Phosphates.

Another thing to consider is Chlorides. As a general rule you want to avoid anything with Clo in the name for tobaccos, High Chloride levels will adversely affect the burn rate. But using Chlorides as a source of potassium in the greenhouse on baby plants is not an issue to worry about either. You wont be smoking those baby leaves anyway and by the time they make it to the field the remaining chloride is totally insignificant. Potassium is an essiential and difficult nutrient to get into your soil by any organic means. So it must be added by other means. After planting, look for a fertilizer that contains Potassium Nitrate and not Potassium Chloride to use for the remainder of the growing season for your source of potassium. No Clo in the field.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Another thing to consider is Chlorides

Is chlorine gas and chloramine in tap water a problem?

 

[skychaser]

Here's another fun fact about Potassium Chloride. It is a naturally occurring salt which is found in easy to get a deposits in many areas. So it is the cheapest source of potassium available. Just grind it up and apply it as fertilizer. That's why most fertilizers use it. But potassium chloride is unstable and decays naturally releasing Radon gas, much like Granite does. I'm sure you have heard tobacco contains radioactive Radon. That's not true. First off, although Radon is radioactive, it is an inert gas and won't bind to any other elements to form a chemical compound. So it is worthless to plants and they won't take it in. And it has a half life of only 8 days anyway.

What does happen is that Radon decays into Polonium 210 after 8 days, which is a metal with a half life of 80ish days. (going from memory here) Then that decays to a radioactive isotope of Bismuth. Eventually it decays to a stable form of Bismuth or Lead. Tobacco leaves are very sticky, so after the Radon has decayed into Polonium 210, those teeny tiny particles of metal floating in the air can and do stick to the leaves. Usually the under sides. So your tobacco can contain Polonium 210 (nasty stuff for your cells to be near) or unstable Bismuth, depending on how long it has aged and what stage of decay the elements are at.

If you live in an area with very little on no naturally occurring Radon seeping up out of the ground and do not use Potassium Chloride fertilizers, your tobacco will not contain any radioactive elements. Some of you old codgers like me might remember our old surgeon general C. Evert Coop from back around 1990. (the guy with the billy goat beard) He was on 60 minutes back then and said if were were to ban the use of Potassium Chloride on tobacco it could reduce the lung cancer rate from smoking by 90% by getting rid of the radioactive components. But it is still allowed on tobacco because potassium is the most scarce of the essential elements and it is cheap to mine.

I'll end my late night rants here. Except to add that peat pots and pellets are on my S list and not my hit list. lol

 

[skychaser]

Is chlorine gas and chloramine in tap water a problem?

It disapates rapidly into the air. 24 hours is about all it takes. If all you have is chlorinated water to irrigate with, you can't do much about it.

 

[skychaser]

..."potassium is the most scarce of the essential elements "....
Correction: Phosphorus is the most scare of the essential elements and most difficult to obtain organically, not Potassium. I read not long ago that the known deposits of Phosphorus on Earth are currently estimated to be about 70 years worth at our current rate of use.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

..."potassium is the most scarce of the essential elements "....
Correction: Phosphorus is the most scare of the essential elements and most difficult to obtain organically, not Potassium. I read not long ago that the known deposits of Phosphorus on Earth are currently estimated to be about 70 years worth at our current rate of use.

It's a good thing you don't need phosphorus to grow soylent green.

 

[skychaser]

It's a good thing you don't need phosphorus to grow soylent green.

yah. Sadly we probably aren't too far away from that now. Gotta do something with all those "non essential" workers. Can't keep paying them to do nothing forever, right? What a great world we have allowed to be created by our oligarch masters. And I heard that soylent green tastes just like chicken! Can't wait to start eating my unemployed neighbors. heh

One of the few natural souces of phosphorus is in urine. The guy who first identified phosphorus way back when concentrated it out of hundreds of gallons of urine. Sewer plants will become a viable and economical souce to get phosphorus in the future as supplies run low and prices rise.

 

[Oldfella]

I had this discussion with someone on a facebook group. His answer was, as soon as the seeds germinate, he used a nitrogen fertilizer which the seedlings loved therefore flourished, soaked up from underneath. He mentioned he used 2x 1.5kg bags for 2-300 plants, throughout from seedlings to maturity. He had no problems of burning roots by using too much. Not sure of his dose for new sprouted seedlings though. In New Zealand its the "Tui Nitrophoska Blue". N-P-K 12-5.2-14 + S, Mg he used.
I'm not technical about this so read opinions a lot + own experience. Its what I'm going to try later this year (Southern Hemisphere). Have heard some have had good success with the peat pellets & tobacco here in NZ, & will give it a go.

Hi Wayne3, I tried the peat pellets some time ago and found all my seeds rotted as they were to wet. I went back to my tried and proven jiffy pots. I use Tui seed raising mix and a sea weed soluble fertilizer. Watering from the bottom and just keep moist. Works well for me, no failures. I live in the far North NZ so it might be the climate that is upsetting the peat pellets, who knows
Cheers Oldfella

 

[Amberbeth84]

On the subject of fertilizing seedlings, has anyone used a tea made from rabbit poop? We raise meat rabbits so I've got plenty to work with.

 

[Oldfella]

On the subject of fertilizing seedlings, has anyone used a tea made from rabbit poop? We raise meat rabbits so I've got plenty to work with.

Hi, I guess you can try it on a few and see what happens. Unless you can find someone who is using it and can give you some more information on quantities that's about the best way to go. I do know that horse & cow poop, (I use sheep pellets),is good and chicken poop is not
Cheers Oldfella

 

[deluxestogie]

Rabbit Manure in the Garden - Fine Gardening

Learn why rabbit manure in the garden is a super fertilizer that will benefit your soil, your plants and other organisms in the soil.

www.finegardening.com

If it works for tomatoes, it should be fine with tobacco.

Bob

 

[ryanj77]

Any experience with these? Not peat, coconut coir.

 

[SmokingCrow]

My experience with peat pods, has been dire. I've an unlisted video showing the results. I'm waiting for the manufacturer to reply.
I re-potted 20 plants grown from seed in the peat pellets into a compost mix and they have all picked up dramatically.
From this day forth, I shall just use my own compost.