Agro Commodities & Agricultural Produts

5 Responses

1. John A. Tallant Said,

   This is a terribly designed system and the materials are cheap and of poor quality. I have given up using it. When compared to similar systems I have used and will go back to, such as Park’s Seeds Biodome system or just peat pots in a seed tray,it is obvious that it was designed by Catalog Gardeners to look good in an ad rather than to help gardeners start their own plants. Burpee should be ashamed to have lent their name to it.
   Rating: 1 / 5

   Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 3:32 am

2. Bold Consumer Said,

   I tried some peat moss pellets that you add water and then they are supposed to expand, etc. I just had a terrible mess.

   This was different. It just worked for me.

   In fact, I had very close to a 100% sprout rate on the seeds I planted.

   I obsessed about sowing the seeds this time, reading and studying on the right way to do it, because it was my first experience growing vegetables from seed.

   The smartest thing I did, other than buying the Burpee Ultimate Seed Starting System, was to SOAK THE SEEDS for 24 hours or so, following the instructions if the packets have them.

   Then I placed them in the seed tray and made sure they had the proper amount of heat. They don’t need extra nutrition at this point.

   I have a greenhouse. It’s the middle of a very extraordinarily stormy and cold, icy Winter in Oklahoma and my greenhouse is FULL of healthy growing vegetable plants that came from the seeds I planted.

   I heartily recommend this product and since I’m here, I’m going to buy another one right now. It just makes growing from seeds so much easier then the SECOND way I tried it, with peat moss things that just didn’t work for me.
   Rating: 5 / 5

   Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 4:44 am

3. MegaReader Said,

   I’m surprised at how negative some of the reviews below are on this product. I used it for the 2009 growing season, and found it to be easy and successful. I started 144 plants in two of these, and over 90 % of them germinated and were eventually transplanted into 3″ pots. As a result, I’m using this system again for all my plants in the 2010 season.

   The materials are not high-quality, so it’s best viewed as a one-season, disposable tool, though in theory you might be able to squeeze a second season out of it. The flimsiness of the materials is actually an advantage, in making the plants easy to pop out when you’re ready to move them up to 3″ or 4″ pots. One nice feature of this system is the growing medium – the little pellets onto which you pour water; they expand to fill each of the 72 cells. This medium is inert and will greatly minimize the odds of the seedlings getting viruses and rot and such, compared to using potting soil or other organic medium.

   I use the Burpee system with a heating mat and a lamp, and the results have been very satisfactory. However, it’s important to point out that you cannot use their “automatic watering” system and a heating mat at the same time. Their “system” elevates the cells around 3″ above the tray. What you really want is the cells sitting right on top of the heating mat, if you’re using one. No big deal – the dome keeps the humidity level very high and it was weeks before I needed to add any water at all.
   Rating: 4 / 5

   Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 6:25 am

4. mdanseuse Said,

   When I first bought this product I was excited by the self watering system. Though tt was easy to set up, many of the little pellets did not hydrate or turned sideways and lodged themselves in the holes. It was impossible to get them out. Since they didn’t hydrate all the way, they were little lumps of concrete. I lost several spaces due to this and couldn’t plant as much as I wanted.

   The majority of the seeds and holes I was able to plant did germinate.

   The real trouble started when it was time to transplant my seedlings. There was no way to remove the seedlings! If I tried to push one up from the bottom, the whole cheap flimsy plastic mess would crumble and I ended up killing a few seedlings that way. I finally had to take the sissors to the whole thing and still ended up with several dead, destroyed plants. The ones I did remove intact had week root balls.

   After months of care, weeks of hardening and finally planting the few puny survivors, none of the seedlings I grew in this product survived in the garden.

   I would NOT recommend this product.
   Rating: 1 / 5

   Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 8:24 am

5. Morley Dotes Said,

   Update:
   
   So, everything was great until I went to plant my vegetables. It is VERY difficult to get the plants out, and the growing media just falls apart. Roots grow through the bottom and you have to cut the sides, and be careful not to damage the roots. I lost just about everything I grew. I don’t think it would be the same with plants, or with other vegetables, but if you try to grow watermelon, cantelope, etc., they are vines and delicate. DO NOT try to grow anything “viney” in these. Also, I think you really need to compact the media, but I don’t know how it will effect germination/growth.

   I have so much to say…….

   Let me start by telling you that I have a black thumb. I generally can kill plastic plants within a month. I have two children and they love to plant. Last year I tried to grow watermelon and cantalope. I bought the plants already started, but it was so late in the season by the time I put them in the ground that I couldn’t get any ripe fruit (I live in NY, so the season is shorter than if I lived in the south). This year the kids wanted to plan again. I saw this and thought it was worth the gamble. We planted watermelon, (giant) pumpkin, cantalope, and cucumber, and they are ALL growing VERY well!!! It is a no brainer to set up and use. Directions are easy. The plastic is a little flimsy, but this is meant to be a disposable product I think (I am going to try to use potting soil next year….but I am still going to buy 2 more so I can grow more). Because it is flimsy, set it up near a window that gets good sunlight. It’s not that it will break, but because of the weight of the water, you will probably have some spillage. The only problem is the cover is too short, and we now have the cover off. Just fill with water and you are set. In about a week you will see your flowers/vegetables growing (some germinate faster than others, so be patient). I still have another few weeks before I can plant them outside, and I suspect they will be pretty big by then. This is really great, and I highly recommend it! My kids love it, and really, you can’t beat the price. I just keep the water in the basin pretty full, and I never have to worry about adding too much or too little. No my only concern will be keeping the animals (chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, etc.) and birds from eating everything. Lastly, I should add that I thought this was going to be a really messy project, but I was happily wrong. And, now that the plants are growing, the kids check them every day.
   Rating: 5 / 5

   Posted on February 18th, 2010 at 10:33 am

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