OT: Great material for shipping cuttings and starting seeds

14 years ago

I've been using the stuff that's on the inside of disposable diapers for shipping unrooted cuttings and it's worked beautifully, even when I'm shipping extremely tender cuttings cross country. I decided to see if it would work for starting seeds and it's great for that as well. I have seeds germinating in that goo in 5 days while the same seeds in soil, paper towels and perlite have yet to sprout and it's been over two weeks. I'm going to try it with some unpeeled and peeled brug seeds and see what happens. This stuff holds a ton of water and doesn't dry out as long as it's sealed in a baggie or a jar. It must be similar to the stuff that the "water crystals" are made from and I think it might also contain something that keeps bacteria from growing because nothing appears to rot in it.

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Comments (15)

chena
14 years ago
LMAO!!! I have bought Pampers just for that reason...TOO FUNNY!! Yep It does work...hehehehehehe....

Kylie
marquest
14 years ago
That is great info. Another use for pampers. Who needs babies. LOL
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givelittle_getlots
14 years ago
That is indeed something to try. Next time they send diaper coupon for my youngest daughter without kids, I will use it :-)

Lucy
karyn1
Original Author
14 years ago
I wish I hadn't given away all the old diapers once Kyle was potty trained. I'd found a few extras in an old diaper bag but am down to my last one. Never thought I'd be buying diapers again. lol
rosepedal
14 years ago
LOL :)
siam_cannas
14 years ago
Great info Karyn, you always know all these exciting things!
pearlgirl
14 years ago
Yeah...Karyn is always heavy on some good info. I always
enjoy reading your post Karyn!!! :):)
I'm going to try some hibiscus seeds, etc. in that stuff.
Thanks.
Margaret
marquest
14 years ago
Karyn, thank you for sharing the seed starting info. I have been using the diapers for my pots for years. I travel 3 weeks out of the month and cannot water my pots every day. It works great keeping the pots moist for a week even when the temps are in the 90s.

If anyone have a Big Lots in your area they have the diapers cheap. 24 for 3.00. The diaper stuff is great.
kasha77
14 years ago
You guys are too much! Thanks for the Big Lots tip! Off I go!
kasha77
fool4flowers
14 years ago
Lol, I bought some for the dog I never used. I'll have to see where I put them.
sandysseeds007
14 years ago
bump

I clipped this posting but I figured others might want it on hand.
karyn1
Original Author
14 years ago
I love this for shipping unrooted cuttings and starting large seeds but I don't like it for rooted plants. It gets kind of sticky and is hard to remove completely. I don't know if that would actually be harmful but?????
eloise_ca
14 years ago
I was reading everyone's post thinking how great it was to have Lucy and Kristy posting again, and then saw the date, LOL!

Karyn, do you still like it for starting seeds?
kasha77
14 years ago
Hi Karyn-
Can you explain how you ship cuttings with this stuff? I bought the diapers and used it all winter for cuttings. I was pretty dissapointed, because it turned green & stunk like urine. Maybe because the cuttings were rotting in it. Maybe they rotted because they were in a cool basement. (50 - 60*) I don't know why it did that, but I will give it a try with seeds. I've found that the best material to start cuttings is the shredded light brown moss that is used for growing orchids. I'd say I had about 95% success with that stuff. I've learned that the key to best rooting is to let the medium dry out a little before watering again. Thanks for all the info over the past 2 yrs! I'm learning a great deal!
kasha77
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
14 years ago
Great tip Karyn. Question: Can soiled diapers be 'recycled'? Mmmm probably not!