The End Results
Ahhhhh....
Sorry everyone life at home has been busy and I haven't had the time to jump on and give an update blog on our little starter experiment!!!
So we started our experiment about one month ago. That is plenty of time for all of the seeds we started to get the chance to germinate and start growing their true leaves. We started many varieties of veggies and in many different starters including pods, toilet paper rolls and even egg shells in hopes of finding the one that stands out from all the rest! We found early on that the seeds in the eggs and old egg carton took a while longer to begin sprouting but given the time they did follow suit. We also discovered a mold issue in out toilet paper rolls.
We planted a total of 130 starters ranging from one to five seeds each with a range of 14 varieties. Out of those we have about 91 seedlings that are still growing. That's right we lost about half of our starts. Now we know that a majority of the radishes had gotten leggy due to so many over cast days and not a sufficient amount of light. There are about twelve left still going strong leggy stringy stems and all. These will most likely not produce but I plan to let them live out their lives to see what will happen.
Now those that had mold growing... The mold isn't a big issue unless of course it is black mold (it wasn't) you would just wipe it or scrape it away and hold off on the watering for a bit to allow the plants (and starters) to dry up some. I did just that and had many seeds sprouted and growing just fine showing no signs of struggle. All of a sudden they died. Yes all of them!!! They were fine and then the next day they were all laying over and wrinkled up. We had a slight issue with gnats and it is possible that was the cause of the untimely death of these poor little seedlings but I am no scientist so I'm not sure I will ever really know.
Time to get down to the nitty gritty. Which starters worked and which ones didn't. Lets start with the old egg carton. This was a biodegradable carton re-purposed for this experiment. I planted only onions in this starter. Alisa Craig White Onions and Red Burgundy Onions. I did have a few of the onions germinate late in the game but sadly the majority of the seeds never popped up out of the soil. This container seemed to take to moisture away from the plants rather than hold and release it to them as needed. Due to this I found myself watering it more times than I should have had too and the soil still never seemed to stay wet. This is most likely the reason for little germination. Out of 12 onions planted only two are still thriving in this starter so I give it a D.
On to the toilet paper rolls. These seemed like an awesome starter because it re used the cardboard roll left after the toilet paper was all gone and was biodegradable so it was able to be planted up with the seedling instead of needing to be removed from its starter. We planted many seeds in these. This is where the mold set in. Most of the toilet paper rolls were riddled with mold within two weeks of planting into them. The mold wasn't an issue at first but then the plants began to just die off. We did have some that survived and are very well off like some peas and even an onion plant but, because of the mold issue and the possible gnat attack I'm going to have to give these starters a C. These rolls did seem to do well with water retention but when they got dry they dried out very quick and they soil began to fall out from under them. Maybe a screened bottom would help hold in the soil better another time? I may recreate this experiment just with the toilet paper rolls to see if the gnats and mold caused all of the issues and regrade it then but for now i'm sticking with a C.
Next we will discuss the eggs shells. I heard somewhere to plant into your old egg shells so that is what I did. I saved some up from our breakfast one day and decided to use them in this experiment. I will tell you they were the latest to begin to sprout so I thought for sure they were goners but they did finally sprout. When they did those sprouts were the darkest of green with the most sturdy stems and looked the best out of all of the sprouts. Sadly all but two died. I think the fact that the shells take time to decompose and the roots needed somewhere to go the plants got root bound and were unable to thrive causing them to snuff themselves out. The two that made it I cracked hole into the bottoms of the shells to allow the roots room to roam and transplanted (shell and all) into larger pots. They seem to be doing well now. Not thinking about the roots when planting is where I made my mistake with these starters so I will be giving them a B+ because I haven't quite seen their full potential. Their grade may be changed after watching the two seedlings that are still growing and seeing what happens in the next few weeks.
Last but not least, the starter pods from the store. These by no means were perfect either. I lost some plants and had some not even germinate. Now I was informed it is possible the lettuce didn't germinate because it was planted too deep. I did get one to germinate but no more growth so far on it. All of my celery seeds sprouted but it took a very long time and they are just now beginning to get true leaves so I will be keeping an eye on how those do to report back to anyone who might be interested. These pods did very well at holding water in fact I rarely needed to water them. I just spritzed with a spray bottle when they looked like they might be a bit on the dryer side. The spinach that sprouted in these pods just randomly began to die rather than thrive. I am unsure as to why and I also lost some cabbage. To me these (so far sense the celery hasn't done much) seem to be the better option out of the ones I tried. I will say they are very small and the seedlings get root bound very quickly in these so they have to be transplanted soon after true leaves begin to form. All 16 of my pea plants thrived and they were in these pods as well as the toilet paper rolls. They had to be transplanted very soon and are ready to be put outside. I give the store pods an A- because of the size of them.
If you want to plant your seedlings in any of these starters keep in mind the issues I had with them and they may actually work for you. Toilet paper rolls; add some sort of soil catcher in the bottoms. Egg shells; crack or put a hole in the bottoms so they have somewhere for their roots to go. Egg carton; use lots of water so that the soil stays moist or plant something that doesn't need much water to be started. Starter store pods; remember they will need planted up very soon after they sprout so be prepared! I think I will start mine in larger containers from now on so they have a longer time frame to grow before needing to be transplanted up or out! Thanks for following along! My next adventure will be coming soon. For now like, follow, and comment!! Let me know what you have tried or plan to try! Follow me on Instagram and YouTube and remember to have a good time! Bye Guys!
Sorry everyone life at home has been busy and I haven't had the time to jump on and give an update blog on our little starter experiment!!!
So we started our experiment about one month ago. That is plenty of time for all of the seeds we started to get the chance to germinate and start growing their true leaves. We started many varieties of veggies and in many different starters including pods, toilet paper rolls and even egg shells in hopes of finding the one that stands out from all the rest! We found early on that the seeds in the eggs and old egg carton took a while longer to begin sprouting but given the time they did follow suit. We also discovered a mold issue in out toilet paper rolls.
We planted a total of 130 starters ranging from one to five seeds each with a range of 14 varieties. Out of those we have about 91 seedlings that are still growing. That's right we lost about half of our starts. Now we know that a majority of the radishes had gotten leggy due to so many over cast days and not a sufficient amount of light. There are about twelve left still going strong leggy stringy stems and all. These will most likely not produce but I plan to let them live out their lives to see what will happen.
Now those that had mold growing... The mold isn't a big issue unless of course it is black mold (it wasn't) you would just wipe it or scrape it away and hold off on the watering for a bit to allow the plants (and starters) to dry up some. I did just that and had many seeds sprouted and growing just fine showing no signs of struggle. All of a sudden they died. Yes all of them!!! They were fine and then the next day they were all laying over and wrinkled up. We had a slight issue with gnats and it is possible that was the cause of the untimely death of these poor little seedlings but I am no scientist so I'm not sure I will ever really know.
Time to get down to the nitty gritty. Which starters worked and which ones didn't. Lets start with the old egg carton. This was a biodegradable carton re-purposed for this experiment. I planted only onions in this starter. Alisa Craig White Onions and Red Burgundy Onions. I did have a few of the onions germinate late in the game but sadly the majority of the seeds never popped up out of the soil. This container seemed to take to moisture away from the plants rather than hold and release it to them as needed. Due to this I found myself watering it more times than I should have had too and the soil still never seemed to stay wet. This is most likely the reason for little germination. Out of 12 onions planted only two are still thriving in this starter so I give it a D.
On to the toilet paper rolls. These seemed like an awesome starter because it re used the cardboard roll left after the toilet paper was all gone and was biodegradable so it was able to be planted up with the seedling instead of needing to be removed from its starter. We planted many seeds in these. This is where the mold set in. Most of the toilet paper rolls were riddled with mold within two weeks of planting into them. The mold wasn't an issue at first but then the plants began to just die off. We did have some that survived and are very well off like some peas and even an onion plant but, because of the mold issue and the possible gnat attack I'm going to have to give these starters a C. These rolls did seem to do well with water retention but when they got dry they dried out very quick and they soil began to fall out from under them. Maybe a screened bottom would help hold in the soil better another time? I may recreate this experiment just with the toilet paper rolls to see if the gnats and mold caused all of the issues and regrade it then but for now i'm sticking with a C.
Next we will discuss the eggs shells. I heard somewhere to plant into your old egg shells so that is what I did. I saved some up from our breakfast one day and decided to use them in this experiment. I will tell you they were the latest to begin to sprout so I thought for sure they were goners but they did finally sprout. When they did those sprouts were the darkest of green with the most sturdy stems and looked the best out of all of the sprouts. Sadly all but two died. I think the fact that the shells take time to decompose and the roots needed somewhere to go the plants got root bound and were unable to thrive causing them to snuff themselves out. The two that made it I cracked hole into the bottoms of the shells to allow the roots room to roam and transplanted (shell and all) into larger pots. They seem to be doing well now. Not thinking about the roots when planting is where I made my mistake with these starters so I will be giving them a B+ because I haven't quite seen their full potential. Their grade may be changed after watching the two seedlings that are still growing and seeing what happens in the next few weeks.
Last but not least, the starter pods from the store. These by no means were perfect either. I lost some plants and had some not even germinate. Now I was informed it is possible the lettuce didn't germinate because it was planted too deep. I did get one to germinate but no more growth so far on it. All of my celery seeds sprouted but it took a very long time and they are just now beginning to get true leaves so I will be keeping an eye on how those do to report back to anyone who might be interested. These pods did very well at holding water in fact I rarely needed to water them. I just spritzed with a spray bottle when they looked like they might be a bit on the dryer side. The spinach that sprouted in these pods just randomly began to die rather than thrive. I am unsure as to why and I also lost some cabbage. To me these (so far sense the celery hasn't done much) seem to be the better option out of the ones I tried. I will say they are very small and the seedlings get root bound very quickly in these so they have to be transplanted soon after true leaves begin to form. All 16 of my pea plants thrived and they were in these pods as well as the toilet paper rolls. They had to be transplanted very soon and are ready to be put outside. I give the store pods an A- because of the size of them.
If you want to plant your seedlings in any of these starters keep in mind the issues I had with them and they may actually work for you. Toilet paper rolls; add some sort of soil catcher in the bottoms. Egg shells; crack or put a hole in the bottoms so they have somewhere for their roots to go. Egg carton; use lots of water so that the soil stays moist or plant something that doesn't need much water to be started. Starter store pods; remember they will need planted up very soon after they sprout so be prepared! I think I will start mine in larger containers from now on so they have a longer time frame to grow before needing to be transplanted up or out! Thanks for following along! My next adventure will be coming soon. For now like, follow, and comment!! Let me know what you have tried or plan to try! Follow me on Instagram and YouTube and remember to have a good time! Bye Guys!
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