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Starting Seeds In Peat Pellets

Pecci

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I purchased a couple of Jiffy Greenhouse (72 cell) seed starter kits. I then saw that some say the peat pellets used, would not do well for germinating baccy seeds.

Can I ask some of you to comment on this? Thank you!
 

FmGrowit

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The peat pellets will work for germinating the seed. The problem with peat pellets is the ph is too low for growing just about anything. You have to raise the ph by adding lime. This is going to be tough to do with peat pellets. You might try dissolving (actually suspending is more accurate) a cup of lime in a gallon of water and using that to water the plants. The lime will sink so you have to keep it mixed up.

The other problem with peat moss or peat pellets is there are very few nutrients in the peat. What little there is, is made unavailable to the plants because of the ph level. Add a table spoon of Epsom Salts to the lime water for some nutrition.
 

dkh2

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I don't know what to tell you, mine grew like gang busters every time.

ma1CZ.jpg


So big in fact that the roots were growing right out of the pads
ouNZR.jpg


Here they are after I transplanted them to a cup
WgQXW.jpg
 

FmGrowit

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I'm guessing all peat pellets aren't created equally. I planted in "peat moss" one year and all my seeds germinated and before they got their second set of leaves, they all turned yellow.
After giving them a shot of Magnesium Sulfate, they turned dark green within 2 days.

Maybe the manufacturer of your peat pellets add all of the goodies that are in my peat moss based seed starter mix. Is there any pearlite in your pellets? If there is, then there is probably some fertilizer, lime and minerals added to your pellets.
 

FmGrowit

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Here's some info on Jiffy pellets
Herb Kits.com said:
The Jiffy-7 peat pellet is made from sphagnum peat from specially selected peat bogs. Lime and a special fertilizer with a low ammonium content are added to the peat in order to stimulate growth. The peat pellets have a pH of approximately 5.3 and are wrapped in a thin, biodegradable net.

Here's Burpee's description
Burpee.com said:
Just drop these soil cubes in and add water—they expand in minutes to fill any shape container. The unique blend of soils is specially formulated to get your seeds off to the best start possible, holding more water and with better air circulation than ordinary peat.
 

dkh2

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That's the same bag as mine
Those pictures with the roots growing out of them are of Virginia Bright Leaf
The Burley Mammoth were a lot more root intensive. I should have taken a
few pictures of them there was a big difference in how many roots were growing
out of them
 

Jitterbugdude

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I tried some peat pellets this year and they SUCKED! The other mediums I used were a float tray and in a separate container some Styrofoam cups (used as a float tray) all with "float tray soil". The float tray stuff all grew like gangbusters, the peat pellets barely grew so I transferred them into Styrofoam cups with the float tray soil and they've almost caught up.

Randy B

ps... did I already say that peat pellets suck?.. if I didn't.. peat pellets suck
 

dkh2

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Since the test growers have come up with some pretty bogus numbers in the past, I regard all of these as very rough numbers. Who grows 38 leaves on a burley?

Leaf number topped: 34 to 38
Leaf length (10th leaf): 52-63cm = 20.5 to 24.8 in.
Leaf width (10th leaf): 27-28cm = 10.6 to 11 in.

Yield (cured grams/plant): 192g = 6.8 oz.

Bob

38 Leaves ? wow !!!
Size of leaves look average I guess
These are Remarks made by the seed donators
according to USDA
Deluxstogie found the remarks at grin
 

dkh2

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I'm guessing all peat pellets aren't created equally. I planted in "peat moss" one year and all my seeds germinated and before they got their second set of leaves, they all turned yellow.
After giving them a shot of Magnesium Sulfate, they turned dark green within 2 days.
As in Epsom Salt ?
I wonder how much you would use on seedlings ?
Per gallon of water ?
 

Jitterbugdude

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What brand were the ones you guys used ?

I think it was "Jiffy", the kind that comes in a square container with a clear lid... did I mention that they SUCK? as a matter of fact, to quote Bart Simpson " They are the suckiest sucks that ever sucked"
 

Daniel

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I have used mainly garden soil. I have tried potting soil and a peat moss vermiculite mixture. I have not used the pellets for Tobacco but I have used them for other things. I don't liek the pellets for nothing more than personal taste type issues. Regardless of what you use to start seed I believe it is far more important that you get a handle on the correct moisture and light needed than anything. The seed may start better in one medium than another but only buy almost un noticable degrees. In short the seed needs a place to anchor it's roots. food and such becomes more of an issue later. Teh sed needs mositure and the sprout needs light. It can tolerate other deficiencies fairly well for a while.
 

dkh2

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This subject came up on the other board about a year or more ago.
I tried to find out what exactly there was in these pellets.
All there ads said that there was a " Tad of Fertilizer " in them.
So this year I soaked them until they were wet enough to sprout seeds which they did.
2nd I added more water to the tray kind of like a " Float Tray " set up and found out that
they only absorb so much water and the rest of the water remained in the tray not the pellets
at that point the sprouts took off like gang busters so much in fact I was amazed how fast they grew.
When I saw the roots growing out the sides of the pellets I transferred them to cups with the soil from my patch.
and this morning they are still showing daily growth.
Now if the weather and the bugs cooperate I'm off to a good start this year.
 
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