jiffy 7's

[emilymup]

These are little discs of dehydrated compost in net bags about the size of a 50p which you soak and then put your seeds/cuttings directly into. When the roots come through the netting you can then plant them into pots etc.

I have used them for taking cuttings of my pelargoniums, penstemons and other bits, very successfully.

Has anyone used these to start off veg seedlings and if so which ones? Supposedly much easier than sowing into trays and pricking out etc! Monty Don uses them to start off his onion sets, among other things, so they get a good start before he plants them out!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

[Two_Sheds]

I don't like them, personally.
Here are some old threads on Jiffy: Grow Your Own - Growing, How To Grow Tomatoes Growing Fruit & Veg - Recipe Advice, Organic food Gardening, Chickens, Seeds for Sale

[catgardener]

I use them for tomatoes and lettuce. I have had good results with them. They can be expensive though.

They are easy to single sow with out the need to prick out. Just pot them on when the root start coming through or plant them straight out.

My dahlia cutting were very sucessfull in them.

[Two_Sheds]

start off veg seedlings ... much easier than sowing into trays and pricking out

I used Jiffy 7s once. Once was enough ... they were rubbish. I hate pricking out too, so I sow into modules/celltrays.

[Snadger]

I grew peas and Mammoth onions in them once! Wasn't impressed. The little mesh surround is supposed to be bio degradeable but it was still there restricting the roots of the plants even when I dug them up at the end of the season!

[BrideXIII]

I hate pricking out, so I sow into modules/celltrays

thats what i normally use, but i have nowhere near enough, luckily they are pretty cheap, but....
I have decided to try loo rolls next year, and then newspaper pots, i shall experiment with different sizes too, long/talls for carrots and parsnips, etc.

[emilymup]

I have already got some modules/cell trays which I used last year, however, I will also be trying loo rolls and root trainers for the first time in the spring!

May give the lettuce and toms a go in the jiffys as I am never very successful at lettuce!

[rustylady]

Loo rolls are excellent for large deep-rooted things like peas and beans. Cell trays can be used year after year if you are careful with them, and I would always use them rather than sowing into large trays and then pricking out. I don't like Jiffy's. They always seem to be too wet or too dry, and the net round them stays put even when planted out.

[crazy_red]

I've never used Jiffy 7's either.

I have used the 'Roota' cubes, which are absolutely brilliant for Fuchsias and fancy pelargoniums, etc.- you could root a peg in one of those

Way too expensive though

I seem to think there is a kit, that includes a polystyrene mould, that you can buy to make compost cube thingies your self which probably makes it more economical - not certain, but i think i saw them while i was looking at hydroponics shops....

Red

[Demeter]

I used them this year.

They were fun to use, we enjoyed watching them "rise". And as a beginner it gave me a bit of confidence knowing it would be easy to plant the seedlings out when the time came. However, even though the roots did come through the bag, but the bag didn't rot down and was still there at the end of the season so that wasn't ideal. And i remember a few of the bags got tangled up wtih each other where (unnoticed by me) the roots had come out of one bag and grown into the next one! Also, they are not cheap and if you single sow in a Jiffy 7 and the thing doesn't germinate it can end up quite wasteful.

Overall - maybe worth a go if you aren't yet very confident of your skill at handling plants, but otherwise not really worth it. I almost certainly won't be using them again.

[Herbie]

I tried jiffy sevens for veg seeds. Never again! Every time I watered (from the top instead of from the bottom lol) washed the seed away. However seed was saved by the kitchen towel I had put in the bottom of the tray. Lots of transplanting.

They work well with cuttings but I will stick to the tried and tested method for veg seed.