This Saturday, I started potting up seedlings to 16.5 oz. water bottles. My gardening buddy, Araness, had recommended these awhile back, but, I thought the 16 oz. Red solo cups were working fine for me, until I tried the bottles.
Marvelous recommendation! The bottles are taller and narrower, making for a more compact vessel in my cat litter drip trays. And, they seem to take less potting mix! Could just be my imagination though, but I think I use less mix...
I potted up 17 mustard green seedlings Saturday, and by Sunday morning they were looking crisp and green. So happy to be in their own little apartments! I'd have kept going, but, I ran out of bottles. Have a recycling project going on at work, so I should have more in no time!
Also, after lamenting one last time over those floppy-stupid cabbage seedlings that got leggy on me while I was away, I made an executive decision. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Since the seedlings need the stems propped up with some support, I came up with the solution of enclosing the stem in a straw sleeve.
I had several, large, McDonald's Malt straws on hand, so I cut them to size and split them vertically.
It took awhile to get the hang of forcing the straw open and around the delicate stems (without pinching, snapping, or crimping them!) I finally got a system going, and once encased in a straw sleeve, I gently pushed the sleeve down a bit into the potting mix to anchor it vertically, and help the seedling stand up. Each straw is translucent, so, hopefully, enough light will penetrate and help the stems to beef up.
The things we do for food...sheesh!!
Godspeed, and Good Harvest!
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| Thread Title | Last Reply | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Recycling Water Bottles by Horntoad | Aug 25, 2011 12:47 PM | 4 |
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