Recently, summer residents and gardeners for growing seedlings are increasingly using peat pots. In order for plants in such containers to grow and develop normally, one should know several rules for choosing and using peat pots.
Instruction manual
1
When choosing containers for growing seedlings, carefully study the packaging. Peat pots should not contain cheap impurities. Quality seedling containers contain 70% peat and only 30% wood or cardboard additives.
2
Carefully inspect the pots, their wall thickness should not exceed 1.5 mm. The walls of this thickness are strong enough, and the roots of the plant can easily destroy them when planting in open ground. Experienced gardeners advise making holes in pots before planting plants in the beds, although even without this procedure, the roots of the plants quite actively destroy the walls of the peat tank. In high-quality peat pots, the decay period is from 25 to 30 days from the moment of planting in the ground.
3
Using peat pots has many advantages. Such seedling containers do not contain substances harmful to plants, such as benzopyrene residues and pesticides. Peat easily decomposes in the soil, becoming an environmentally friendly additive that does not contain pathogens of flower and vegetable crops. The survival rate of seedlings when planting in peat containers is almost 100%. However, this applies only to quality products. In low-grade peat containers made with a violation of technology, plants can take root poorly, in addition, mold often forms in such pots, so be especially careful when buying.
4
Before planting seeds, peat containers should be filled with moistened soil, which should be slightly crushed. After that, you can plant cuttings, bulbs or plant seeds in pots. The landing depth should be no more than 1 cm.
5
For seedlings of squash, zucchini and cucumbers, choose containers with a diameter of 8 cm. If you plan to plant pumpkin seeds in peat pots, it is better to use containers with a diameter of 11 cm.
6
Place prepared containers on a pallet, plastic wrap, or place them on a layer of soil. During the germination of seedlings, make sure that the soil in the pots does not dry out, remaining always slightly moistened, however, there should be no excess moisture in the containers, otherwise seed or seedling may rot. To prevent drying out of the soil, you can wrap each peat pot with cling film.
7
When the seedlings rise, the containers should be placed at a distance from each other. This will improve aeration.
8
Growing plants in peat pots ends with planting seedlings in the ground. Plants should be placed in beds directly with a pot, which after decomposition will become fertilizer for plants.
