Why won't nursery flats work?

Has anyone had luck using those nursery flats with the holes that you fill with dirt for growing plugs? I don't know why but they never work! And if the seedling survives long enough, even if I have it under a light and lightly fertilize it, the roots never fill up the plug. Any idea why I'm plug challenged?

You are talking about plug flats? Where there are either 288 holes or thereabouts etc?
Not sure why you are having problems with them. I grow alot in plug flats (I have a seeding machine that will drop the seeds in the holes-can't imagine putting them in one by one :) )
The only thing that I can think of for poor root development is that the soil is too wet and not allowed to dry out some once the seedling puts out their true leaves. I actually like to transplant my seedlings out of the plug trays before they are totally rooted/rootbound. I use the other end of a paintbrush to pop them out. I use the narrow paintbrushes.

Yes, I mean the plug flats. Yeah, I do let them dry out some. Hmm. I don't get it.

What sorts of seed starting setups have you had good luck with? Knowing which things worked well for you and thinking about the differences between those things and the plug trays might help figure out what's going on.

Tiger, He's talking about the ones from the nursery -- the 6 packs. I think you know them as sheet pots. About 48 cells to a flat.

Cap't., I think it is too much water and using the wrong medium. I say this because up until this year I had bad luck with them, too.

I can sow a communal pot of seedling and transplant them at the single leaf stage into a 48, but I can't sow individual seeds and have it work. But this year I tried something different - I put in 5 or 6 seeds per cell. (Easy to do with all the seeds I got free from swaps)

I assume those extra seedlings took up some of the extra water that those things tend to hold. It's the only thing that makes sense, because on some of my plants, I didn't have enough seeds to put 5 or 6 seeds in, and I only sowed one. They are lagging way behind their brethren. There is something I learned about mutual stimulation ...some genera prefer to "feel" other like-seedlings near them. I suppose that could be an answer, too.

Suzy

Ya';ll are talking about plugs and not pellets right? Cause I want to know where to get them. After this plug co op, I've been trying to find where to get the little plug flats. Can't believe someone knows!!! I want a million. Well, maybe not that many

Lorraine, I get the plug flats in cases-they come 100 sheets at a time. I don't know if you want that many. There are also liner sheets-those are larger holes and usually have 102-50 holes per sheet. They are used more for cuttings.
If you are sort of new to seeding/germinating-I am not sure if you want to use plug sheets. They are generally used with a seeding machine that will drop one seed per hole in the plug sheets and does it quickly. Germinating in the plug sheets is the same procedure as with seed flats etc, but they are a bit trickier in that because the holes are so small, its a bit harder to control the moisture as they can dry out faster.
Also when using the plug sheets, I switch to a plug medium that is much finer than the soiless mix that I usually use with the seed flats and liners. Metro Mix is what I use with the plugs. All of the plug mixes come in the loose bags as opposed to the compressed bales

I'm sure I don't do as much as you do!! Can't imagine, but I have used the plugs before, just bought them retail in Houston, and can't find them here.

Is there a site and I'm sure they have a minimum, can you hook me up. I'm hosting 2 co ops now, so couldn't do that, but maybe someone else could if it's a high minimu;m... I love them. One co op we are finishing up is for the plugs and they are great!!