What Can I Plant in Jiffy Pots?

Start long-season veggies and early-blooming flowers in peat pots.

Gardeners and nurseries around the world buy Jiffy Pots by the millions. They are inexpensive, compostable and permeable, allowing air and water to circulate freely around roots. Jiffy International began making them in Oslo Norway in 1953.

Identification

Jiffy Pots come in a variety of sizes for different uses.

Jiffy Pots are peat, wood pulp and coir pith pressed into round or square containers. Although other companies produce peat pots, Jiffy International still dominates the market with its wide selection of sustainable containers and appliances.

Starts

Give long-season plants an early start under lights indoors.

Use starter strips of 1-inch pots or 2-inch pots for indoor seeding of long-season vegetables like tomatoes, or to give plants like begonias an early start so they bloom immediately when set outside.

Seedlings

Use larger peat pots to prevent pot-bound roots before spring frosts end.

Transplant nursery seedlings from plastic to Jiffy Pots. Delicate seedling roots penetrate into pot walls. Planting the entire pot reduces shock and hastens bloom when late frosts delay planting.

Specimens

Use the largest Jiffy Pots for vegetative reproduction and sensitive transplants.

Grow seedlings of vegetables like squash and pepper that do not transplant well in large peat pots to protect roots. Use large 5- and 6-inch Speedy Pots for vegetative reproduction of geraniums and other plants held inside over winter.

Warning

Avoid damping off and fungus growth in the pots' organic materials; use only sterile potting mix in peat pots and never let pots stand in water.

References

• Jiffy Group: Born Sustainable
• Novosel Enterprises: Jiffy Pots and Jiffy 7 Pellets
• University of Minnesota Morris Prairie Yard and Garden: Using Peat Pots