newbie questions

nursekat424 5/18/2010, 1:36 pm

ok first question is a little strange but, i know the pots (peat) most veg from a store or nursery come in are meant to be planted straight into the ground but do y'all use them or tear them off- reason i'm asking is
1)some of them seem just a tad big or tall to fit well,
2)a few i have had for a week or so have gotten a white powdery stuff (mold?) on them so i tore them off and cut away that area of the roots/dirt.
also do i need to cut that area away? will it hurt the plants if i do? or dont?

ok next- i have read on here about hardening off, what is that? how do i do that?

i really am a newbie- feel so silly asking about such basic things. but newbie questions 109486

to anyone who can help.
i'll probably have more b4 too long.

Retired Member 1 5/18/2010, 4:13 pm

Welcome. The white mold on the sides of your peat pots won't hurt a thing. What I do is carefully tear off the bottom of the pots when I plant, or if they are the small square 6-pack size, I tear each corner near the bottom. I get better results not using peat pots are they are hard to keep hydrated. If they dry out (go lighter in colour) then the roots touching the sides will dry out as well.

Hardening off means to gradually acclimate your plants to being outside. Leave them out in shade for a few days, then move them to sun for a couple of hours at a time until they are used to being in the sun. It takes about a week. I handle this by putting them under an oak tree that provides dappled shade with full sun only for 3 hours in the morning.

Please ask as many questions as you'd like. You can also use the search function, but it only searches titles, not inside posts.


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newbie questions

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