Planting in Peat Pots | Should you or should you not?
Peat Pots are *not-surprisingly* made of compressed peat. They are slightly controversial because there is discussion as to whether the peat can reproduce itself as quickly as it is being harvested. As far as I can tell, it is not proven that there is any harm to the environment whatsoever, and surely they are better than plastic pots, right?
Anyway, until there is a cheap alternative that is biodegradable, peat pots are the best option in my opinion. Peat holds water in the soil and nourish the plant in the ground as it decomposes. If you sprinkle regular peat moss over your beds in spring it will make your soil amazing and all my plants always perk up when they get a peat boost. Sometimes I'll buy it for $1-2 a bale at the end of the season and give plants a late summer pick me up!
This year my peat pots are gifted to me by the shed of many wonders in our back yard. The previous owner left the shed completely full...like you couldn't walk in full and I have been having a field day sorting through everything, repurposing some items and getting rid of a few. The peat pots were a happy surprise!
Unfortunately, mice had eaten their way all the way through the piles of peat pots leaving the sides intact, but the bottoms eaten up. Apparently they had nice little tunnel nests last winter :) Anyway, I ended up using them in trays, figuring it is worth a try seeing as I rip out the bottoms before planting anyway.
Fill your pots with potting soil. Fresh potting soil or fully cooked compost is best so you don't have weed seeds germinating.
It took about 1/4 of a large bag to do all of these little pots. If you are smart, you'll wear gloves. If you are like me, your hands will get dirty :)
I write plant info directly on the pot.
I write kind of sloppily, but the beauty of peat pots is that in a few weeks, the plant, pot and all will be buried in the ground
to decompose and my bad writing will disappear (it says watermelon by the way...).
Anyway, until there is a cheap alternative that is biodegradable, peat pots are the best option in my opinion. Peat holds water in the soil and nourish the plant in the ground as it decomposes. If you sprinkle regular peat moss over your beds in spring it will make your soil amazing and all my plants always perk up when they get a peat boost. Sometimes I'll buy it for $1-2 a bale at the end of the season and give plants a late summer pick me up!
This year my peat pots are gifted to me by the shed of many wonders in our back yard. The previous owner left the shed completely full...like you couldn't walk in full and I have been having a field day sorting through everything, repurposing some items and getting rid of a few. The peat pots were a happy surprise!
Unfortunately, mice had eaten their way all the way through the piles of peat pots leaving the sides intact, but the bottoms eaten up. Apparently they had nice little tunnel nests last winter :) Anyway, I ended up using them in trays, figuring it is worth a try seeing as I rip out the bottoms before planting anyway.
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| Can you see the bottoms eaten out?? |
Fill your pots with potting soil. Fresh potting soil or fully cooked compost is best so you don't have weed seeds germinating.
It took about 1/4 of a large bag to do all of these little pots. If you are smart, you'll wear gloves. If you are like me, your hands will get dirty :)
Go ahead and plant your seeds! For more info on planting seeds, you can check out THIS POST!
I write plant info directly on the pot.
I write kind of sloppily, but the beauty of peat pots is that in a few weeks, the plant, pot and all will be buried in the ground
to decompose and my bad writing will disappear (it says watermelon by the way...).
Come back in a few weeks to see these pots make their way into the ground and check back in a few months for
giant pumpkins and corn and melon and beans and tomatoes and much, much more!
I'll be chillin' in my new yellow galoshes until I see you again...
