Plug plants

[rary]

Just wondering if anyone else like me removes the material that is used for plug plants, I know that the roots grow through it but as in the past I have found that it is still present after a seasons growth I decided to always remove this, I think it binds the roots a bit and you dont get the same root formation that plants require. Do others agree with this or do you think I am wrong to do so, though I have done his for a good number of years and will continue doing it I am just curious to know what others think

[Mark Rand]

The ones that are grown in a little mesh or similar surround do seem to suffer from restriction to the roots. I discovered rood restriction on some plants that I'd grown in 'peat' (presumably paper/cellulose fibre) pots the other year. my practice now is to snip it off or slice it into sections before planting.

[Snoop Puss]

I have to admit I mostly grow seedlings in sturdy plastic trays (some I've had for years, honest!). I tried peat pots, but they're ridiculously expensive here. And I once tried those mesh pouches. Never again. They might be biodegradable, but only after years in my compost bin. Even though some roots can get through them, making them impossible to remove, most don't, and the plant is effectively strangled.

I haven't grown parsnips for a few years but those I always grew in newspaper pots. The newspaper was already starting to break down by the time the seeds had germinated and the plants were ready to go in, so I just left it to avoid the soil falling away from the long tap root.

I do like newspaper pots, but I never seem to have much newspaper these days. Just the monthly local freesheet.

When you buy plug plants in the UK, do they come wrapped in something? Here I might buy onion seedlings, say, from a nearby nursery and they just get wrapped at the counter as a bundle in a sheet or two of newspaper.

[rary]

When you buy plug plants in the UK, do they come wrapped in something? Here I might buy onion seedlings, say, from a nearby nursery and they just get wrapped at the counter as a bundle in a sheet or two of newspaper.

I dont know about veg plug plants the only ones that I buy are flower plugs, and the only veg I have seen on sale are are in trays 8x3x2in.depth usually holding a number of onions or leeks ready for transplanting, the same size of trays are also used for the likes of cabbage etc.

[Jungle Jane]

I would remove the material too,I bought some French marigolds from m & s during covid when the GCs were closed at first,they came in a mesh thing that you just plant out but the root system didn’t expand I noticed when lifting later,it stayed as a block in the mesh,small plants that didn’t do well. Over here the flower plug plants I bought at the GC (about 2” small plants) are just wrapped like a wide cone (the base is slightly smaller than the top) in a shiny paper that you can tear & recycle,roots & compost loose. They must grow them in plastic & transfer to this paper thing that doesn’t seem damaged by water,it must have a coating…

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, JJ. The paper 'cups' are a good idea.