I have recently attempted to install onions and sweet peas in my garden. I used several deep root cell flats for growing onions and sweet peas. Honestly, this was the first time I had used cell flats, as I have always grown plants in peat pots or soil blocks. The appeal of soil blocks is that they are simple, waste-free, and rather cheap to create. However, they can also be cumbersome to make and I wanted to explore cell flats. Utilizing a cell flat is much easier, as you only need to add a growing medium.
Unfortunately, I was unaware that one must wet the cell flats generously before transplanting. As a result, my first attempt at pulling out the seedlings was a total disaster because my onion seedlings were slightly dry and fell apart during removal!
Even though my flats contained 50 cells, there were only a handful of seedlings that I believe I successfully removed. Many fell apart, which was quite disappointing, especially as I had dedicated nearly a full month to their preparation. My other DIY flats, which were made of milk cartons and ice cream cups, yielded better results because they retained more moisture and, apparently, worked exceptionally well as disposable options.
The SureRoots 50-Cell Deep Plug Flats from Johnny’s seeds are rather flimsy and break easily. Next time, I plan to invest in something much stronger, perhaps something made of high-quality plastic, silicone, or even pots made from natural materials.
Though I faced challenges removing seedlings, Sufian helped me to make holes in the planter I had prepared ahead of time. To create the holes, we used a long dowel with a carved tip. I am considering carving the stick more for future use.
That’s me, struggling to remove the seedlings. I ended up breaking two of the cell flats. I dislike one-time-use plastics. I’m sure an experienced gardener could use these cell flats multiple times, but they remain flimsy and will inevitably break sooner rather than later.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.