Posted by Suzanne D. on July 8, 2009, 7:41 pm
I have a bunch of peat pellets in which the seeds never germinated. They
are all dried out now. Are they okay to use them again, or should I just
remove the netting, crumble them up, and add them to the garden soil?
--S.
Posted by Pat Kiewicz on July 9, 2009, 6:45 am
Suzanne D. said:
>I have a bunch of peat pellets in which the seeds never germinated. They
>are all dried out now. Are they okay to use them again, or should I just
>remove the netting, crumble them up, and add them to the garden soil?
They are very difficult to re-wet, and who's to know why the seeds never
germinated. (Did they carry some sort of mold or pathogen?) The pellets
themselves are relatively cheap, especially if you buy them in bulk mail
order, so my opinion is, better safe than sorry. I don't reuse them.
I always run my 'extra' seedlings and dud pellets through the compost
bin.
(I use the Jiffy-9 pellets for the most part, which avoids the netting issue.)
--
Pat in Plymouth MI
"So, it was all a dream."
"No dear, this is the dream, you're still in the cell."
email valid but not regularly monitored
Posted by Suzanne D. on July 9, 2009, 9:29 pm
> They are very difficult to re-wet, and who's to know why the seeds never
> germinated. (Did they carry some sort of mold or pathogen?) The pellets
> themselves are relatively cheap, especially if you buy them in bulk mail
> order, so my opinion is, better safe than sorry. I don't reuse them.
That was what I figured as well. They would probably do just fine in the
compost. I am actually thinking of getting a soil blocker next year and
making my own small blocks instead of the Jiffy peat pellets.
--S.
Posted by R M Watkin on July 11, 2009, 4:02 am
Hi All,
>> They are very difficult to re-wet, and who's to know why the seeds never
>> germinated. (Did they carry some sort of mold or pathogen?) The pellets
>> themselves are relatively cheap, especially if you buy them in bulk mail
>> order, so my opinion is, better safe than sorry. I don't reuse them.
> That was what I figured as well. They would probably do just fine in the
> compost. I am actually thinking of getting a soil blocker next year and
> making my own small blocks instead of the Jiffy peat pellets.
> --S.
I made a soil blocker. The soil has to be just right [ damp but not wet ]
and the right type of soil,
or it will not work very well. I gave up in the end. It was more trouble
than it was worth.
Hope this helps you.
Richard M. Watkin.
Posted by Suzanne D. on July 11, 2009, 5:55 am
> I made a soil blocker. The soil has to be just right [ damp but not wet ]
> and the right type of soil,
> or it will not work very well. I gave up in the end. It was more trouble
> than it was worth.
It's something I am only thinking about right now. On one hand it DOES seem
like a lot of hassle--making sure the dirt blend is just right, dealing with
the inevitable crumble, and spending a lot of time to make planters when you
can prepare 72 Jiffy pellets in minutes just by adding water to the tray.
On the other hand, I like the idea of having really tiny blocks (I'd get the
3/4" size) for things like corn, of which I would want a LOT but on which
wouldn't find prudent to waste a whole Jiffy pellet for each seed, and for
having no leftover pots and netting, and for having to hardly spend any more
money once you get the initial equipment. I'll just have to see how I feel
about it next spring.
--S.
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>are all dried out now. Are they okay to use them again, or should I just
>remove the netting, crumble them up, and add them to the garden soil?