Plants in a Jif!: Here's a SUPER easy way to get your garden started with seed pods!

We’ve started a flower, herb, and fruit and veggie garden. I am going a new route and trying out the Jiffy Seed pods. I’m growing beans, peas, bell peppers, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, nasturtiums, and misc flowers. 

These things are compact discs that you saturate with water. They are peat soil and they expand to a pretty good cylinder after soaking in water. Then, you put the pods into a greenhouse or really any other plastic container. 

I push two seeds into each pod (just in case) and gently squish the sides around to make sure the seeds get buried into the peat. Then I place them into their greenhouse or plastic container. The greenhouses are easy enough to use since there’s a spot for each disc and also a clear top that easily comes on and off and houses a lot of discs. I am experimenting with some plastic containers too with clear plastic lids. We will see how those do. I upcycled several plastic containers of various sizes, but they all have a clear lid and at least some ventilation. A few of them are fruit cocktail containers that only hold one pod. Some are plastic pots that hold two or three. I have a large plastic bowl that holds quite a few, and an empty dishwasher detergent pod container that holds nine. I am excited to see how these do! 

This is the bigger version of what I have. I can’t seem to find the exact one I have (I bought them a few years ago at a hardware store). 

Any seeds will work. Find what you like. 

The greenhouse container or plastic covered container creates a greenhouse effect. It helps keep the plants warmer so they grow faster. It also protects them from bugs and other “predators.” The clear transparent lid allows all the light in, which obviously, plants need to grow! (The PHOTO part of photosynthesis)

Beans and peas take only a couple days to poke their head up (hey, these things grow in a plastic bag or a CD case… seriously, it’s hard to NOT get these things to grow). Other veggies and fruits and plants take longer to get growing. It’s fun for the kids to watch them grow too. We check on them every morning and water them gently with a sprayer when the top gets dry. 

When the seeds start growing, they create a root ball in the peat pod. When the plant is about to outgrow the peat pod, you can simply move the entire pod into another growing vessel. SO EASY. 

Have you tried these seed pods? What have you grown in them?