Ok, i have my seedlings started in a jiffy pot with jiffy seed starter mix. They are 6 days post ground breaking and doing well I guess. My question is everything I read says to transplant (or just plant) these into bigger pots when you see the roots beak through the little pots. My question is why not just go ahead and put these in larger pots now since they are growing in the seed starter medium anyway? Why wait until the roots break through? Also, should I step up with these? I mean like go to 1 gallon then 5 gallon or can I go directly to 5 with these things? Thanks in advance for any help. I tried the search function but being the newb I am.........
It's best to have plants in containers that aren't too big because of issues involving watering, feeding and available space. First off, if the pots are much bigger than the plants need then you can't fit as many in a given floor area. There's also no reason to use the jiffy pots at all if you're going to immediately put them in larger containers of soil. If you don't wet all of the soil in each pot at watering time and only moisten a small area where the plant is, a few problems can occur. The dry soil around the damp area will wick the moisture away from the plant. This causes the area the plant is in to need water &/or food more often and also leads to the problems associated with watering all of the soil, mentioned in the next paragraph. While you can see where the surface was wet, it's hard to be certain of exactly what area of the soil under the surface was properly watered. The liquid could have run somewhat laterally on its way down or could have dampened deeper soil than you intended. Normally the roots soak up the moisture closest to the plant first, leaving the outer regions damper. This is a healthy circumstance because the roots then grow outward, reaching out for the moisture in the wetter soil. Watering just where the plant is doesn't encourage root growth in this manner and can actually discourage root growth. If you do water all of the soil in pots too big for the plants, the most obvious issue is wasting food & water. Another concern is that without a large enough root system to absorb the moisture throughout the soil, it sits there much longer. It stagnates, encouraging mold and harmful bacteria.
excellent!! thank you so much Jellyman for explaining the why of pot sizes. It's easier to do things the right way when I know why I'm doing it. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I couldn't just start seeds in the finish pot, we stick them in a pretty big ground. Now I'm convinced.
Make sure if you use jiffy pots to break the bottom off of them when you plant them, those thing really arent good for the roots in my opinion.
Yea, can the whole jiffy pot. Take it out of the pot and transplant it. Those things dont degrade like they advertise.
already done, thanks guys. That's the first and the last time I'll use those. I didn't like the performance at all. I echo the don't use jiffy pots sentiment.
[quote name='"mjmama25"']Good choice. Not only do they not break down properly, they also fuck with your PH.[/quote] I didnt know the ph thing, but I have pulled 6 month old tomato plants to find the pots still fully in tact, no degredation at all. If you want to use a starter go with peat pucks, rockwool cubes, or something like that rather than the pots. I have had great succes sprouting with the pucks then planting once they sprout. I like rockwool better so far for my veggies, but havent tried them for mj yet.
