Gardeners?

Doomsday Prepper Forums

Help Support Doomsday Prepper Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mattrow89

Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
43
Reaction score
50
Location
Wisconsin
Wondering if any gardeners here have used paper plates as starter pots. I'm gonna buy a pack of seeds and make sure it works but wondering if anyone has seen this. We used et cartons when I was a kid but they are all styrofoam now.
 
I haven't. But I'm not sure it would work too well, unless you were going to transplant them. I haven't had much luck with the little brown paper cups meant for seed starting, the roots don't seem to break through the way I want.

I have better results starting in plastic trays, or cups, and then transplanting into the dirt, after popping the plants out of the cups.
 
I have never had much luck with the little cardboard pots either SGS. I like to use plastic mushroom trays as they are nice and deep.
 
I have been using a soil block machine so no pots or toilet rolls. I found toilet rolls sometimes grew mold as well. The soil block has worker fantastically well.
I got mine from https://www.worm.co.uk/products/eco-soil-block-maker in the UK but they are available at many websites.
My first year using them and very pleased with how it is working. I used it to grow 500 blocks of herbs under lights and then watered with a mist on the top while the seeds germinated and then after i could see roots popping out the bottom i water from the base. The roots air prune and hold the soil together. You have to get a good ratio of soil/water to get it to bind well and you can add perlite too. After a few trial runs you will find a good consistency that holds up well.

Originally i had a DIY version i made out of a old piece of PVC pipe and a kind of plunger to pop the soil out but after the first 500 batch I upgraded so i could make 4 at a time.
 
Thanks for the responses. Sorry it took a while to get back. I've been super busy with work. Yes I was planning on transplanting. They would be used for apple tree rootstock. However now I'm kinda interested in the compacted soil starters. Think I will look into that more as well.
 
Nice. I started with bastard chicks. Mostly mix breed. Couple isa browns. When I got my jerseys a few of them were temperamental towards the jerseys so both roosters and 2 of the other hens have found their way to the freezer. The Jersey's are my end game. Big broilers. Big eggs just not as often but more than enough. That with my big ### garden I'm set for food. Lol
 
I start a lot of garden plants with peat pellets from Walmart.

Peat pellets are great for cantelope, tomatoes, pumkin, watermelon, honeydew...and reefer (or so I've heard).
 
I use mainly the paper type egg cartons that people who buy organic give me. Only thing in the garden I have to start are the eggplants, tomatoes and peppers. Being as South as we are everything else goes straight in the ground. I have also used those pellets which have good results but I've learned that if I don't have to buy, I don't anymore.
 
Wondering if any gardeners here have used paper plates as starter pots. I'm gonna buy a pack of seeds and make sure it works but wondering if anyone has seen this. We used et cartons when I was a kid but they are all styrofoam now.

Just my two cents. I have been growing plants ranging from veggies to orchids since I was young. Those compostable starter pots can be hit or miss. I currently use plug trays. Once the roots set well they are easy to pull out and transplant. Plus the trays are cheap. They come in several cell sizes and if taken care of they can last for several seasons before the sun starts to break them down. Just don't store them in direct sunlight because they can warp.

This is a small cell very sturdy plug tray which is good for seed starting and fast transplanting. I use the 162 cell tray for small stuff like spinach, lettuce and the sorts.

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/containers-trays/trays-flats/proptek-26-13-propagation-trays?returnurl=/containers-trays/trays-flats/?count=60

This is a good all around tray. Not as sturdy but very handy. The 75 and 98 cell trays are what I use.

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/containers-trays/trays-flats/propagation-trays?returnurl=/containers-trays/trays-flats/%3

This is the bottom tray that I use for the 72 and 98 cell trays. This helps to support the plug trays when you move them around. The 162 cell trays do not need a bottom tray due to how rigid they are.

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/containers-trays/trays-flats/1020-daisy-trays?returnurl=/containers-trays/trays-flats/

Just some food for thought for next spring.
 
Last edited:
I get all my propagation trays from Greenhouse Megastore. As a prepper, I keep a lot of the 288 cell & the 162 cell trays in storage in the barn. I also keep the 1020 trays plus store some humidity domes for them. For the 1020 trays, I keep the 36 cell inserts to be used for certain varieties that might need to grow bigger before going in the gardens. I figure if we have an extended crisis, then I will need to make good use of every seed I have... especially that first year. In normal times, I plant seeds much too close together to ensure good germination, and then thin as needed. In a crisis, I won't want to thin out perfectly good plants, except for amaranth, so therefore my plan would be to start seeds in the trays and then transplant into the gardens.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top