Questions and Answers for Jiffy Professional Greenhouse with Plant Labels Starter Kit

A:  I used pellet pods left from last year and they worked okay.

A:  Just take the pods out that you don't want to use and set them aside in a baggie or container so you don't expose the dirt to water.

A:  They don't expire.

A:  The pellets don't expire, and I've used pellets that were years old with no problem. Just keep them dry and out of the basement. I've had trouble with mold on peat pots stored in a basement and the pots and the pellets are made of the same stuff .

A:  As long as they stay dry, they should theoretically would have no expiration date. They are compressed dried dirt. Always plant more than you think you'll need, though so you can choose the strongest plants.

A:  Keep them moist but not saturated. Saturation can cause seeds to rot rather than germinate.

A:  You just want to make sure the pods stay damp and don't dry out.

A:  No need to water until the seeds sprout. Then prop the lid open and only water when the peat pots start to turn light brown. The instructions are included on the wrapper.

A:  I presume you are asking about watering while in the "mini green house" - I add small amounts of water when the pellets start turning light brown. That indicates enough water has evaporated that it's time to add some. Moist pellets are dark brown.

A:  Keep them moist but not saturated.

A:  The tray is 21.5" x 11.5", so a mat of 22x12 or larger should work for you.

A:  48 seed planter

A:  Bbgjsk: The Jiffy Professional Greenhouse trays are approximately 10" W by 20" L but they're slightly smaller at the bottom. Close to a 1/2 inch smaller on each side. If you're using Hydrofarm's heat mats they're the size of a Jiffy tray + or - about a half inch. Not enough difference to be a problem. They work together fine for me. good luck.

A:  I would not use a heat mat as this usually leads to rot. If you use it in a normal room, you will not need heat. If you used it in a cold garage/basement then maybe heat might help get it going. The dimensions are 21.5L x 11.5W x 2.8H in.

A:  Overall Rough Tray Dimensions: 21.5" Wide x 11" Deep x 4.5" High Very Bottom of Tray: 14.5" Wide x 9" Deep

A:  Yes, this will most definitely work for any hydroponic grow tent. I ONLY use the Jiffy Seed Starts with my grow tent, grow lights, and heat mats. The bottoms of the seed trays are well made and never have holes or leaks. They are far superior to other cheaper brands offered at various home depot stores. Depending on when you plant your seeds, you may have to transplant once or twice depending on your set up. I have had amazing luck with using the Jiffy Organic Potting Soil for transplanting and I always end up with large healthy plants for the start of garden season. I will attach pictures with my set up to show you. They work great for both vegetables and flower seeds!

A:  I would not recommend this for hydroponics as it is designed to be used with Jiffy peat pellets and provides little flow control for water movement.

A:  Lilcor: I hope so because I've used the Jiffy seed starting green house kits successfully in the past and I still do. But I should tell you that I've gone back to soil because it's much more forgiving and less labor intensive than hydro. I took hydro classes years ago and they recommended starting your seeds in whatever medium and system you're going to grow them in. We were advised that if you intend to start and grow your seeds in a hydroponic system to start them in something like rock wool. The theory was that the rock wool is cleaner and less apt to clog pumps, filters and nozzles on active hydroponic systems. So now we need to know what kind of a hydro system you're using? If it's a deep water culture, (A bubble tub), or a wick system with nutrient transport done by the rising air bubbles from an external aquarium pump through an air stone at the bottom of the reservoir, (Not an internal sump pump), there should be no problem. I've done it many times without any difficulty. Here's how: When you transplant, if you are going to grow them in an active hydro system just make sure you keep them deep enough in your net basket and growing medium to insure that you're wetting the bottom of the pods to attract root growth down. You'll also have to keep the tops of the grow pods high enough out of the nutrient solution so as not to wash out the spagnum peat moss in the grow pods. If you don't keep them high enough you can wash out the spagnum peat moss and that will foul your nutrient solution and it can clog your filter and pump. Remember they recommend that you tear open the top of the grow pod to insert your seeds so you want to keep that part dry. I hope this helped. Happy growing, Hank

A:  never tried before

A:  Yes, check out their website JiffyGroup.com. Next year I will start them in the trays and then move the sprouts into my net cups.

A:  Justin: I'm not trying to evade your question, but I've grown in soil and hyproponically and if you're using the Jiffy starter pods shown above, (and I usually do to start my seeds), I'd keep them in soil. I'm trying to remember a warning from one of the teachers in the hydroponics classes I took years ago. As I recall, he warned us against going from one medium to another. He advised us to start our seeds in the medium we're going to grow in. He advised that if you're going to grow them hydropoically to start them in something like treated rock wool cubes. He said it would have less effect on the water's pH and prevent possibly clogging your circulation pump, if you have one. The pods do eventually deteriorate. Is yours an active or inactive DWC? If you don't have a circulation pump it's just a bubble bucket it may not be as important. In any case I would play it safe and try it on just a couple of seedlings and I'd want them to be pretty healthy. Depending on what you're growing you might want to give them an extra week or more before you make the switch. Growing is only fun when our efforts result in healthy plants. Sorry if my answer is vague but I have now idea what you're growing and what kind of DWC system you have? They do vary. Hank

A:  If your talking about a hydroponic growing system, I would wait until the roots have started to grow past the peat pod. then set into your system.

A:  It depends on what kind of seed. Some only take 3 to 4 days. Read up on each item that you are growing. That helps me alot. I read the package and also go online. I bought ginseng seeds they take 13 months to germinate. Hope this helps. Just do your research. Otherwise you end up buying more seed.

A:  I waited 5 days

A:  This product is best suited to starting smaller flowers and seedlings. When the plants start growing towards the cover they need to be moved into 4" or bigger pots to continue to grow. That being said, sunflower seeds are best started directly in the soil. Thy grow very fast and develop a big root system to support themselves. I would move them now, directly to where you want them to grow.

A:  Remove the cover. Don't leave where rainwater will fill up the tray. You'll end up drowning the plants. You could always move the plants to a larger container before you're ready to plant in the ground. Either way don't remove the soil from around the roots.

A:  Ideally you want to transplant before the roots grow into each other. If the plants get too big before you transplant, separating the roots from each other can cause a small amount of transplanting shock and the plants will sit for a short time before they take off again.. You want to keep the momentum of the plant growth going.

A:  Take the lid off! Sunflowers are large plants, and this kit is for starting very small seeds. You may want to move your sunflowers into larger peat pots filled with potting soil if you want them to grow more before planting them outside. But once danger of frost is past, you should be able to plant into your garden directly, as long as the soil is loosened and watered as you plant.

A:  Allison: You're the responsible party here and sunflowers grow fast. But that's half the fun of it! Growing sunflowers will really keep you on your toes. At this point you'll have to remove the lid and check the color of your seedling's grow pods a couple of times a day. If your grow pods are changing color to a lighter brown they're indicating they need a drink. They'll dry out faster now but unless you remove the lid they'll curl over and die.

A:  If your plants outgrow the seed cells before its time to plant in the ground, simply go to your local home depot store and buy larger pots. I recommend purchasing the Jiffy Organic Potting mix to fill the additional containers and transplant them to get you by. I typically plant my seeds 10 weeks before the last frost and transplant them 2 times before they are able to go in the ground. I find that giving them the extra 2 weeks of an early start indoors with my grow lights, and heat mats results in larger, healthier plants that are more disease resistant. I then place them outside everyday to "harden off" a couple of weeks before they are due to be planted to ensure they don't end up with sun scald. Its important to remember that once your seedlings emerge and start growing, you should not leave the plastic lid on all the time. The humidity has the opportunity to create a mold loving environment that can kill tender seedlings! They need air to circulate to keep them healthy!

A:  Remove the lid. If not everything has sprouted then move those too tall for the space to pots so that the lid can remain on otherwise you risk killing the early fast growing sprouts. The instructions do say, to prop the lid after sprouts occur and remove it after growth is established. Touching the lid means success. Sunflowers are hardy and the only real danger before placing outside is last frost has past although here is a link to more info specific to transplanting sunflowers. https://storify.com/thinkablec101/how-to-transplant-sunflower-seedlings-outdoors

A:  Transplant them or remove the lid.

A:  This happened to me and I found that by removing the cover and placing them in a shady place, I could extend the time to one more week before transplanting.

A:  Take the lid off and put on a high dome or better yet, move them to a bigger pot.

A:  I didnt use a heat lamp. I keep it in the garage on a table then would move them outside on a nice day for sunshine

A:  I just left mine on a dark shelf and it worked fine.

A:  No heat mat needed, although I am sure it would help speed things along. I did just fine in a somewhat sunny room.

A:  I've had no problem using it as is, just stick it by a window where it will receive sunlight and it should be good. I do suppose depending on what you were growing and the temperature conditions you may or may not need a heat mat/grow light.

A:  Just use as is. I put mine outside where the sun could get to them and they grew fast!

A:  partial sunlight is okay, you don't need extra light for these. Actually you have to save them from the cooler weather. They will come out in 1-2 weeks.

A:  If you put it in a warm window that should be all you need. The lid becomes a cover and hold the heat in nicely

A:  I put mine on top of my upright freezer where it is worm. Put it on top of your refrigerator or freezer. My plants germinated within a few days!!

A:  I just set mine next to a good sunny window and kept the pots moist as instructed.

A:  You could use either sun or grow light. If starting very early in the season a lamp would be best to avoid hard freezes

A:  Both times, I had a seedling within 3-4 days and a double leaf in one week.

A:  It will vary according to the seeds you planted. Rule of thumb is 'when they are healthy enough to withstand the planting or they outgrow the box.

A:  It depends on what type of seed you have planted as to how long germination to transfer time takes. You want to wait for the second set of "true leaves" to appear before you transplant the pellets into the ground. For some plants this is to 14 days, but it varies. You can try waiting to plant seeds in the pellets until around three weeks before your last frost date. This gives time for many seeds to germinate and grow true leaves.

A:  All seeds have to go through the process of becoming saturated with water and then drying out. I'll refer to it as "pumping". And depending on the type of seed used-will depend on how many times the seed has to pump in order to sprout roots. Or germinate, in lamens terms. For instance, when winter rye grass seed is put down each fall (because the Bermuda grass goes dormant for the cold season) in order for a blade of grass to start growing out of a seed-that seed needs to go through the cycle of becoming saturated and then drying out roughly 25 times.

A:  Yes, it will depend upon the type of seeds you are planting. Some seeds will germinate in as little as 3-5 days, while others may take weeks. Hard coated seeds need some type of scarification to germinate quickly. You will usually get some loss when moving the disc seedlings. I never move these disc seedlings directly to the flower bed. I always move the seedlings from these starter discs into 4" pots to allow them to develop their roots and stems before transplanting them outside. If you move the plants into the 4" plastic pots, you can tell they are ready to transplant by watching for roots to peek out the bottom of the pot.

A:  This totally depends on what you are growing, but as a rule of thumb, I would wait until they are a few inches tall, and no fear of frost outside.

A:  Emac: This time of year, depending on where you live, they'd better be pretty healthy. I've pretty much switched to the 50 mm Jiffy grow pods because they produce bigger healthier seedlings and they have a better survival rate. I'd need to know more about what you're growing and where you live?

A:  As you stated, it varies with each plant but a good rule of thumb is when the plant is strong enough to withstand weather conditions. In most cases, it will be 2-4 inches tall, have leaves and its roots have extended to the edge of the initial growing space. This can be days or weeks depending on the plant. Most of my herbs and vegetables average 2-3 weeks before needing more space.

A:  varies. Read the seed packet it will tell you "germination" time. or check website of seed company.

A:  I had some ready to transplant in 2 weeks and others ready in 4 weeks. The biggest challenge I found was only getting 2 or 3 seeds in each pot. Many of the vegetable are near microscopic so I'd wind up with a dozen seeds in some pots and a tiny forest of sprouts when they sprouted. Made them very hard to separate.

A:  It would probably work, but my experience with succulents is to start the cuttings in a small pot to get roots and them plant in desired location. These work best for seeds.

A:  Great question and thanks for asking. Yes our Jiffy peat pellets will work for starting succulents as we have started our cactus seed in the same here at our office for years with success. However once they germ and start becoming established we would recommend transplanting to a Cactus and Succulents potting mix sold in stores since the mix is designed for their type growing conditions. If you do start them in the Jiffy peat pellets I would cut the netting off after you place them in the potting mix. In doing that I would cut down one side and remove, then bring the potting mix around and firm soil. The netting would eventually break down however due to the type root systems succulents have we feel it would be best to remove. Another option would be to start them in our Jiffy seed starting mix straight. Then when transplanting all you would have to do is dig around 2 inches out from base of plant so you bring up the mix around the root system and transplant. I would recommend having the mix moist when doing this as it would tend to adhere to the roots better. Even if you loose some mix around the roots when transplanting that will be fine. Hope this helps and our best to you.

A:  Sammy: I have no idea. The only experience I've had with succulents are the ones that crawl under my fence from my neighbor's yard. I know they're very forgiving and hard to kill but I'd talk to the folks at your local THD garden center. Sorry. Hank

A:  It should be fine for that.. It's great for seed and I can't think of a reason it would not do well for what you want.

A:  No not suitable