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The Benefits of Using Peat Pots to Start Plug Plants

Published March 10th, 2010 in Garden Plug Plants | No Comments »

Using plug plant trays to start your garden is undeniably a great way to plant your plugs. Many home gardeners have found that a simple tray is often not quite sufficient to give their young plants the start they need, and require a intermediary to help facilitate the transition. Although they are not reusable and require purchase year after year, there are many benefits to using peat pots to transition your young seedlings to their next growth stage.

  1. Size – Peat pots are larger than the cells in your typical plastic plug plant tray. This allows for better root growth and subsequently stronger plants. Large peat pots are typically sold in three sizes – 2¼-inch, 3-inch, and 4-inch (measured from pot top).
  2. Convenience – A peat pot can be planted directly into your garden, without the hassle of trying to release your plant and its surrounding soil from the plug plant tray cell. This makes for quicker, more efficient gardening.
  3. Stress – Moving young seedling from tray to garden can stress your plants. The less you handle your plug plants the less stress they receive. Planting peat pots directly into your garden will help minimize this handling.
  4. Soil conditioning – Peat planting pots are made of peat moss, wood fiber and a balanced fertilizer. The fertilizer is added to help the pot decompose once buried, but it also benefits your garden soil by adding additional peat moss and fertilizer.
  5. Moisture retention – Unlike plastic trays, these containers benefit your seedlings even more by retaining some moisture, making it readily available to the enclosed soil.
  6. No slowed root growth – Although the pot will stop the roots of your plant before it is planted in the ground, as soon as it is buried the roots will push through the pot and grow into the surrounding soil. If pots are planted at the opportune time, your plants root will be able to spread out and grow naturally, as though they were never in a separate container at all.

When compared to plastic seedling starting kits, it’s hard to refute the benefits of starting your seedlings in natural, eco-friendly peat moss pots. Not only do they provide the structure for continued growth, but they simply the process of transplanting the plants into your home garden.

6 Tips For Successful Plug Planting

Published January 23rd, 2010 in Garden Plug Plants | No Comments »

Choose The Right Size Of Tray – There a so many different sizes of plug planting trays available on the market that choosing the right one for your needs shouldn’t be too difficult. If you only have a small garden, then you probably don’t need to buy a ten pack of 500 plug trays. Choose the tray that will provide you will sufficient space for your intended plants. It never hurts to have a few extra slots to overplant your seeds. Not every seedling will grow successfully, so having a few extra of each variety is always a good idea.

Choose Right Depth For Your Plug – One of the most important factors you need consider before purchasing a tray for your plug planting is determining beforehand the size of the container you need. The key is to get a tray that is sufficiently deep for the particular plants that will be planted. Depth can range from 1” to several inches.

Keep Temperature Sufficiently Warm – Your seedlings need to be kept at a sufficiently warm temperature to germinate. Keeping them indoors in a sunlit and warm room is the best option for your garden plugs. Some containers include a cover to help trap some of the warmth the plants require to grow. Avoid drafty locations in your home, and you should have a very successful plant.

Space Transplants According To Recommended Seed Spacing – When your plug plant has reached a mature enough stage to prepare for planting, you want to make sure that your garden area is properly prepped for the transplant. The spacing of the plant is important to its growth. Read the seed packet before planting the transplant to determine the necessary spacing between plugs. Their small size can trick you into planting them too close together.

Harden Plants Before Planting – Plug planting requires a bit of extra care to ensure that the plants survive the transplant. During the transplant stage, the plant is particularly vulnerable to environmental conditions. You are taking the plant from a consistent indoor temperature to a likely cooler and varying outdoor temperature. To help the plant adjust it is important to harden the plant to the new environment. This is done by exposing the plant to their new environment for a couple of hours a day. Increase exposure for a few days before planting the plant in its new home.

Take Extra Care During First Week Or Two After Planting – Once the transplant has been successfully moved outdoors, be careful to tend to the new plant in the first week or two. The plant is still vulnerable, and should be protected from adverse weather and other environmental dangers. Covers or shade netting can be useful depending on the circumstances of the transplant.

Planting Annual Plant Plugs In Your Garden

Published January 23rd, 2010 in Garden Plug Plants | No Comments »

Although you may have never heard of the term plug plant, you have undoubtedly seen a plant plug at your local nursery or garden center. This term simply refers to the plant in a very young stage. Rather than starting the seed in its permanent location, the seed has been started in some form of container or carton. Once the seedling has reached a certain size, the root system begins to plug around the soil, allowing you to transplant the plant into its new location.

Annual plug plants are one of the most common types of plug available. You can find many different varieties of plugs at your local garden center, or you can purchase a tray to plant your own. Not only can you find flower plugs, but vegetable plugs are also quite common.

One of the advantages of an annual plug is that you can start the planting later in the season than normally required with seeds. The transplant is also often started by a skilled nursery worker, and has already made it through the difficult and delicate starting growth stage. If you have a tendency to kill you seeds, or do not have the time or skill to start your garden from scratch, this type of pre-started garden plant is a great idea.

Another use of garden plug transplants is to get your garden started earlier in the season than typically possible. You can start your seedlings indoors, reducing the risk of late spring weather damaging your young garden. With a transplant, a late frost has less risk of damaging your summer yield.

Because most trays are designed to hold hundreds of plugs, you can plant more than enough seeds to meet your garden needs. This allows a couple of bad seeds to not inhibit the size of garden you eventually plant. By planting more, you give yourself the best chance of having a full and successful harvest.

When you have determined that it is time to plant your annual plug plants into the garden, there are a couple of tips that you should follow. The first is to recognize that the plugs are in a very vulnerable stage of their growth. Before you plant you should take a couple of days to harden the plants to their new environment. This simply means that you take the plants outside for increasing amounts of time per day and allow them to adjust to the new temperature and climate.

Spacing your new plants is also important. Just because the plug is small at this stage, does not mean that it won’t grow considerably. Check with spacing guides for the plants you have purchased and be sure to give your plants plenty of room to grow. Following these few tips will send you well on your way to having an enjoyable and fulfilling harvest.

What To Look For In Plant Plug Trays

Published January 23rd, 2010 in Garden Plug Plants | No Comments »

One of the key elements of any successful plug plant is the tray in which the seed is started. There are a number of homemade vessels that have been used to start seeds over the years, but none compare to ease of using a plant plug tray. Creative gardeners have used anything ranging from old containers or egg cartons to the eggshells themselves.

The use of a plug plant tray is by far one of the easiest ways to manage and control your seedlings. The tray is designed to allow you to start hundreds of seeds, and helps to facilitate the creation of the plug. Some systems even have built in watering systems that ensure your plants are sufficiently watered, even while you are away. This is a feature that works well for busy individuals or those planning a holiday away from home.

Trays come in a variety of different sizes, and can fluctuate between the sources that you choose to buy from. Tray sizes range from small, medium, and large plugs, and can be anywhere from 1 square inch to 3 or 4 square inches. And while there may be larger sizes available, these generally move out of the realm of plug plants.

Not only does the diameter of the tray slots fluctuate, but the depth of the tray is also significant. You want to select a tray size that is the right depth for your seedlings. Trays typically range from 1” to 4” deep.


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As indicated above, many tray systems come with a built in watering system. This is often simply a second tray that slides under the plug tray. Whether it works to water your plants or not, a reservoir tray is important for any setup.

You should always water your young seedlings with lukewarm water. This keeps the shock factor to a minimum for your susceptible plants. Having a secondary tray is important to catch any leftover water that filters out the bottom of the tray.

A plant plug tray is an excellent way to jumpstart your garden. Find a tray that meets the size of your garden and the needs of your seedlings. Once your plugs sprout and are ready to plant, you will be amazed at the ease of transplanting your young vegetables.

Start Your Garden Early With Vegetable Plug Plants

Published January 23rd, 2010 in Garden Plug Plants | No Comments »

One of the best ways to get an early start on your garden is to begin your seedlings inside. Starting them inside allows you to protect them from the generally unpredictable spring weather, and can help prevent damage due to cold temperatures. By using vegetable plug plants to germinate and grow your seeds inside, you can easily enjoy a productive and fulfilling garden earlier in the season, and have a much better success ratio when growing your own plants.

Vegetables grown via plug plants are easily transplanted into the garden once they are sufficiently large enough. The easiest way to grow these plants in through the use of a specially designed kit, although some homemade methods may also be effective.

The vegetable plug plant kit is typically a tray full of empty tubes in which you can place your planting soil and seed for the plant. Side by side, the tray can hold many different plugs, and allows for you to get a great start on your outdoor garden. Once the seed has sprouted and the root system grown throughout the plug, the roots will hold the soil together allowing you to pull the plug plants out of the tray. These are then readily available to plant into your outdoor garden.

Your plang plug will do best once they have sprouted in a room that receives plenty of sunlight. The young plants need sunlight as much as full grown plants. Either place the trays in an area that gets a lot of sunlight in the day, or if you are fortunate to have a conservatory on your home, placement in this type of sun room is an excellent choice.

When planting from transplants, it is helpful to gradually harden the plants to their new environment. Take the plant outdoors for a couple of hours a day before you plant the plug into your garden. Increasing the new plants exposure to the elements will allow it to adjust better to its new home.


Image by ilja

This can be an excellent way to jump start your garden and ensure that you have a successful planting and harvest. One method home gardeners use to ensure the success of their garden is to transplant more than they anticipate needing. Some of the seeds will do better than others, allowing you to plant seeds that look healthy and are likely to survive the transplant.

There are a number of different varieties of vegetables that do well this way, though not all are as successful as others. Man of the deep rooted or underground vegetables have a hard time being transplanted. You will want to consult with your local nursery or research sites online like Square Foot Gardening, for more information on plants that work well as plug plants.

Everything You Need To Know About Plug Plants

Published January 21st, 2010 in Garden Plug Plants | No Comments »

Not only are plug plants are a great way to quickly add color to your garden, but they can also make your home more attractive and inviting, ultimately adding to the perceived value of your home. They are affordable and quick and easy to plant – your garden will look fresh and revived in no time at all!

Because much of the initial growth of the plant has already happened, plant plugs can be planted in your flower beds and gardens as soon as the last chance of frost has passed, letting you enjoy the sights of spring sooner than you would by planting seeds.

Whether you buy annual plug plants, or perennial plug plants, or vegetable plug plants, you will enjoy a sooner bloom and sooner harvest than if you’d planted seeds at the same time. Plug planting removes the worry of whether or not seeds will sprout and whether your growing season will be long enough to produce a good crop. Because they are pre-started, buying plant plugs may allow you to grow flower and vegetable varieties that are not usually grown in your area due to local season lengths. If you prefer native plant plugs, these would best be purchased from local growers who are well-versed in what grows best in the local region.

Plant plug trays can be purchased at your local nursery or hardware store. Some internet sites are even beginning to sell plant plugs online. If you prefer the low cost of starting your own seeds from scratch, empty plant plug trays will allow you to start your own flowers or vegetables weeks before the last frost and transplant them into the ground after that point.


Image by Photofarmer

As plug plants grow and develop it will be easy to tell them apart from growing weeds because of how much further along they are. This is often a problem for gardeners who grow from seed as many young plants and weeds look similar. Growing plug plants will allow you to pull young weeds before they are a problem, knowing with surety that you are not pulling young seedlings.

Plant plugs do require a little extra attention during the first few days after planting as they do experience some stress in transport and transplantation. Hardening your plug plants to the specific area they will eventually grow can help to lessen this stress.  Some plants may also benefit from a transfer to an intermediary peat pot before planting in the garden.

You should also be aware of the spacing between your plug plants when you decide to transplant them. The size of the plug can deceive you into thinking you have more space than you do. You still need to follow the recommended plant spacing for each variety that you have transplanted. Just visualize the size of the plant when it reaches full maturity and you will have a better idea of how far apart you need to space them.

Plug plants are an excellent way to jump start your garden, and provide you an excellent chance of having a complete harvest and a fulfilling garden experience.