Peat Pellet Magic !
I begin my tomato seed sowing with Jiffy Peat Pellets. I am intrigued to know how they work.
There are some fairly useless diagrams on the label. (Did the person responsible later get promoted to doing IKEA instructions?)
However the gist of it seems that you water them and they transform from hard disk into soft squishy tomato seed receptacle.
I experiment. Each pellet has a small indentation in the top that looks perfect for putting a seed into. So on one pellet I place a seed and then water. And on the other pellet, no seed, just water. Two seconds and my experiment is conclusive. The watering process whooshes the seed off the indentation, never to be seen again.
So the correct sequence must be to water the pellets and then add the seeds.
Fully expanded the pellets were 3cm tall.
Experiment concluded. Now for the real thing
20 pellets placed in a roasting tin. (IKEA – there’s good in everything) I add about 800ml of water soaking the tops of the pellets as well.
Makeshift Peat Pellet Pond !
When ready, the pellets are going to sit in a seed tray. So to keep track of which is which (using the pellets I’m going to sow 5 seeds of 4 varieties) I stick written labels on the sides and ends of the seed tray. Let’s hope they stay on!
When the pellets have expanded I get out the seeds. Tomato seeds are small! Especially when dried and hiding in the corner of a packet. I found the easiest way to handle them was to shake them gently into a small white china bowl, individually lift them out with my finger tip and place one on top of each pellet. I then tweezered a little bit of the peat over the seed.
Spot the seeds !
Seeds in situ, it’s time to move the seed tray into the propagator. In the garden centre I couldn’t work out the benefits of the more expensive trays. So I bought the cheaper, lightweight one. Now as I lift the tray it wobbles and the pellets fall over. As the seeds were covered fortunately they remain in place. But now I know!
Do you use Jiffy Peat Pellets to start your tomato seeds in? What would be your advice on how to make the best use of them?
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Just put some Jubilee tomato plants in pellets this last Monday. They’re virtually all sprouted now (about 5 days). I’m located near Atlanta, Georgia, considered a region 7 growing season in the States.