Being part of the solution

 To meet my environmental goals, I’ve been avoiding peat-based potting mixes and trying to cut down on buying plastic pots. As I plan next year’s garden, I’m thinking about how I can move this campaign up a notch.

Starting to envision spring lettuce

    Now that I know that peat is a non-sustainable resource, I’ve turned to coconut fiber, or coir, as the key ingredient in my seed-starting mix. I can live dangerously and use my homemade potting mix, which is half coir and half sifted compost from my compost bins. That mix isn’t weed-free or sterile. 

Coir and compost mix ready for summer containers

Or I can buy coir-based products such as Organic Mechanics Seed Starting Blend, made of coconut coir, pine bark, rice hulls, and worm castings, with no peat. This mix is pretty easy to find, and it works well for me.

    The next problem is the containers. I’ve got a collection of plastic six-packs for seedlings. Some I bought new—regrettably, I now feel. Others came with seedlings I bought at garden centers. 

 

A lifetime supply of seedling six-packs

I’ve washed and reused these, often through more than one seed-starting cycle. Eventually they tear and have to be discarded. 

    Last year I reached a turning point in my thinking about plastic pots. For years, the “green industry”—the businesses that produce and sell garden plants—have chosen plastic containers for their low cost, durability, and light weight. Now the industry can’t easily pivot to other materials, because they’ve designed their machines around the plastic pots’ sizes, shapes, and other physical properties. If they’d make a start, though, I bet lots of consumers like me would be willing to pay a few extra cents for non-plastic containers.

Even my local native plant shop uses plastic pots

    I was heartened by a recent Fine Gardening article about biocontainers. The writer, University of Georgia professor Bodie Pennisi, describes two types of biodegradable pots: plantable pots made of recycled paper plus or minus dehydrated cow manure, and compostable pots made from pressed coir. 

 

Coir pots

These are relatively durable and neat-looking. A more ephemeral product is a paper sleeve made from wood fibers that lasts long enough to contain flower and vegetable starts.

    Like me, you may have tried starting seeds in flats and pots made of pressed peat. I found these didn’t decompose as advertised. I plan to try starting seedlings in CowPots this year. These are the brainchild of a Connecticut farmer who’s been producing them from homegrown cow manure for 20 years. They’re said to keep their integrity for 12 weeks above ground. After planting, they should break down in one growing season, allowing roots to penetrate easily. The nitrogen in the decomposing cow manure reportedly gives the young plants a boost.

CowPots at Gardener's Supply

 
    For perennial divisions, I’d prefer longer lasting containers. I’m going to try pressed coir pots. I see that I can buy some from Greenhouse Megastore or Gardener's Supply, if not at my local garden center. I’ll report back on how these products work out.

 
    Now, how to do we get the garden industry to make the switch too?

Sustainable sourcing

I’ve received the first seed catalog of the season! It’s time to start ordering seeds and planning plant purchases for next spring. I want to be realistic and environmentally sound. That poses some new challenges this year.

Previous years' seeds were stored in the refrigerator

    I love spending cold winter evenings mooning over catalog portraits of perfect vegetables and lush, bright flowers. A seed packet doesn’t cost much, and I convince myself that I’ll find space for that special squash vine or those five varieties of string beans. I also tend to over-estimate how many sunny spots there are for annual flowers in the insectary bed or the perennial borders.

Everything looks perfect in the catalog

    The miracle of seeds germinating and sending up their first leaves never gets old for me. I like sowing seeds and coddling seedlings through their first weeks under lights. I don’t do so well with the next stage, growing those seedlings into sturdy young plants bursting with energy for their move to the garden. When I compare my willowy seedlings to their hearty counterparts at the garden center, I often resolve to stop sowing seeds at home and depend on the experts.

My zinnia seedlings look puny compared to the garden center's

    This year things look more complicated for two reasons. First, I’m still trying to avoid introducing neonicotinoid insecticides into my yard. Even seeds may be treated with these pesticides, which are toxic to bees and other beneficial insects and persist for years in soil and plant tissues. I don’t want them here because I’m trying to foster native insects, not kill them. In addition to shopping for neonic-free plants, no easy task, I also aim to buy seeds that aren’t treated with pesticides.

Neonics poison bees when they visit flowers

    That’s why I prioritize organically-produced seeds, sure to be pesticide-free. It’s convenient that the year’s first seed catalog comes from The Natural Gardening Company, the oldest certified organic nursery in the country. This seed house emphasizes vegetables over flowers, and being in California, they don’t necessarily feature varieties suited for the Northeast.     

     Closer to home, there’s Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine, which offers lots of organic seeds. Even if they're not organic, Johnny’s seeds are untreated, and none contain neonicotinoids. Even Burpee offers some organic seeds. It’s hard to pass up beautiful new varieties in the catalogs that aren’t organic, but I have enough organic choices to make
it bearable.

Basil and borage growing from neonic-free organic seeds

    Second, I’ve made it a goal to buy less plastic with my garden purchases. That means trying to bring home fewer plastic six-packs and individual plastic pots of seedlings. For the last couple of years, my friend Jennifer and I have bought some of our herbs in fiber pots. These are theoretically compostable. At my house, they turn into dog chews before they can decompose. At least they’re plastic-free.

    What about the rest of my plant purchases? Almost all at local garden centers will be offered in plastic pots. 

Organically-grown seedlings, but they're in plastic pots

I’m going to look into bareroot options. Strawberry plants are often shipped this way without soil or containers, and I’ve read that other plants can be too. Let’s share sources!

                         Happy Holidays