Peat Pellets & Peat Pots - Starting Plants w Peat Pellets & Pots

There are a variety of seed starting solutions available today. One of the most popular are peat pots, with their close cousin peat pellets. What are the differences between peat pots and peat pellets, and which will work best for your seed starting and plant propagation needs.

Peat Pots:

As the name describes, a peat pot is simply a pot that is typically made from Canadian sphagnum peat moss and pulp. These are filled with a potting soil or often a soil-less mix for use in starting seeds. The advantage to the soil-less mix is that it will be free from soil borne disease. These are simple to use and the plants respond well since you plant the whole pot, and there is little transplant shock using peat pots.

It’s important to get the peat moist ahead of time. Tepid or lukewarm water works best, cold water will not get absorbed very quickly. As the seedling grows in the the peat pot, keep it moist but not soggy, as the pot may start to fall apart if it is too wet, and that will also encourage fungus growth.

Jiffy Peat Pellets #7 $2.25 Store: Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co. Ferry Morse Seed Company Jiffy-7 Peat Pellets Pack Of 24 - 5775 $76.26 Store: UnbeatableSale, Inc. Square & Round Peat Pots $5.95 Store: Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co. Square Peat Pot - Buy 25, Get 25 Free $2.95 Store: Henry Fields Seed and Nursery Co. Peat Pots $5.95 Store: Henry Fields Seed and Nursery Co. Seed Starter Greenhouse $14.75 Store: Henry Fields Seed and Nursery Co. Peat Pots: Jiffy 2.25 in Square -24 pk $2.95 Store: MasterGardening.com #7 Peat Pellets $2.25 Store: Henry Fields Seed and Nursery Co.

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As the seedling matures, the roots can actually grow through the peat pot, but will be constrained by the contact with the air, so you end up with a nicely contained seedling ready to be planted.

When planting a peat pot, there is usually a section of the pot that extends above the soil inside. Even if the soil was originally leveled off at the top, it will have settled some over time. It’s important to bury this collar, or even to simply tear or cut it off. If it extends above the soil after it is planted, it can act as a wick and actually dry the plant out.

Peat strips are simply square peat pots that are attached in groups of 6 or 8 to make a six pack or eight pack of plants.

You can buy Peat Pots from Amazon. They have several vendors that feature them, and include a variety of several sizes of both peat pots and peat strips.

Peat Pellets:

Peat pellets take this plantable seedling container one step further. They are compressed pellets of sphagnum peat moss, typically with a nylon external netting that contains the expanded peat after it absorbs moisture.

We find these are even easier to use than peat pots. You take the peat pellets, and add water to them, and they expand to a little over an inch in height. You put the seed in the middle of the moist peat at an appropriate depth, and away it goes. No mixing of soil or soil-less mix, just add water and go. Often they include some fertilizer in the peat mix as well. Once it is mature enough to transplant, you simply plant the whole thing, burying the peat pellet. One other advantage over the peat pot is that there is no possibility of the top extending above the soil mix, so you don’t have to worry about cutting down the collar. The primary disadvantage of peat pellets is simply that they are only available in smaller sizes, so if you need something started in a 3 inch pot the peat pot is the only way to go.

You can find these in trays that allow you to neatly start 6 to 24 of these at a time, which simplifies the watering and fertilization.

You can buy Peat Pellets from Amazon. They feature a selection from a half dozen different vendors, with a wide variety of package sizes to choose from.

Making your own peat pellets:

If you are at all interested in making your own peat pellets (without the nylon outer netting but a cotton one instead, the link below is an article that tells how. Candidly, it seems like a lot of work.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1971-05-01/Making-Your-Own-Peat-Pellets.aspx