[CARROTTCRUNCHER]

Me again,  Does any of you good folk use these much have bought a load of them to start my seeds of, ie runner beans sprouts cabbage sweet corn im told that this would be ok so i can plant out and not disturb the roots . and what other plants can i start off in them ...

[SalJ1980]

Never used them as the only ones I can get hold of locally have peat in, which is naughty. I'd be happy to try the coir ones though if I could get them...

[CARROTTCRUNCHER]

may sound a silly question but why is it naughty ..

[SalJ1980]

In a nutshell, peat is found in bogs and wetlands, and when it's dug up it destroys the ecosystem within that habitat for different types of wildlife.

[Stripey_cat]

Peat is a finite resource: you dig up all the peat bogs and they're gone for good.  Plus, as Sal said, peat bogs are a habitat for lots of specialised plants and insects.  Coir is not entirely a good thing either, as it encourages people to switch from food crops (and given the way most staple foods are rising in price, anything that shortens supply is bad) to monoculture cash crops.  Use what you've already bought, but consider the sticky on paper pots for next season!

[CARROTTCRUNCHER]

Ok thank you i only bought a 100 pots i wont use them again i will make them instead i thought maybe out of cardboard or would you recomend anything else i like the idea so the roots dont get disturbed thats the reason i got them .. Whats coir!!

[Potiron]

Richy's paper pots....................................................Brilliant.
  I make and use them all the time!       and      they are FREE.

 Poti.

[sclarke624]

I find those fibre pots go horribly mouldy, a lot of other people said the same.  Didn't use them again after that.

[Trillium]

If I recall correctly, coir comes from the production of coconuts. It was a surplus waste that was eventually substituted for peat.
Personally, I just buy the new deeper seed trays which last years if you're careful.
I've used fibre pots in the past and my problem was that the pots constantly dried out too quickly and sucked moisture out of the mix and the seedling. After numerous dead young plants, I permanently switched to taller seed trays.
Loo rolls are another alternative.

[noshed]

Use them now you've got them but I rip the bottoms off before I plant the seedlings out. I've found them not very decomposed at the end of the season so I've stopped using them - Richy's paper pots and module thingys fromWilcos are the best bet in my opinion.

[Stripey_cat]

If I recall correctly, coir comes from the production of coconuts. It was a surplus waste that was eventually substituted for peat.

Oh yes.  So long as they're not extending the plantations, it's not too bad then (OTOH if it's all that's keeping them from switching to food staples that locals might benefit from then my point still stands).

[Swing Swang]

But of course coir comes from south of the equator (I think that most of it comes from Sri Lanka) so you need to balance your 'pot miles' against your desire not to use peat...

Anyway paper pots are just as good as peat, they're free, and you can make them in whatever size you want.

SS

[Cazzy]

My Mum bought me a bunch of peat pots last year and I didn't use them until last week to sow my peppers into.......... what a mess, they are covered in 'fur'.  The peppers have now germinated and i'm at a loss as to what I should do.

Not sure whether to repot them right away with just the seed leaves or to wait until the true leaves appear and hope the mould doesn't affect them.

Personally, I'll never use them again and the few that are left will be going on the compost heap.

[Trillium]

Like Noshed, I too found the fibre pots didn't disintegrate (forgot to mention that before). Supposedly when you directly plant them into the garden, you must tear off the top part to the level of the inside mix, then bury them slightly deeper so that the fibre doesn't dry out in the air. Always did that and found the pots still intact. In fact, I tore some large ones to pieces, threw them into the flower garden to help the hummus level, and am still finding those same bits intact after 2 years! Not quite what I was hoping for.

[lacewing]

Richy's paper pots for me every time, they are brilliant!, they recycle old newspaper, they don't grow mould like loo rolls, they break down and add carbon to the soil, and can be made to any pot size you wish, tall, small, fat, thin. FANTASTIC!!!!