Old Jiffy Pellets

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Setec Astronomy
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Old Jiffy Pellets

#1

Post: # 13000Unread post Setec Astronomy
Thu Mar 05, 2020 8:32 pm

I know this is a scenario few of you will be able to relate to, but I wound up planting a lot more seeds this year than I originally planned on :lol:

So I'm thinking what am I going to plant these extra seeds in, and I remember I have some old Jiffy pellets from my father's basement. These are at least 35, maybe as much as 45 years old. I figure, these don't go bad, they'll be fine.

So I pour some warm water on them...nothing happens. It's been about 3 hours and maybe they are at half-height (these seem to be the medium size/42mm). I guess they are fossilized. Hopefully by the morning they will have fully expanded.

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PhilaGardener
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#2

Post: # 13001Unread post PhilaGardener
Thu Mar 05, 2020 8:40 pm

I've used some old ones and they expanded fine, but they were probably only about 10 years young. :roll:
Gardening near Philadelphia (USA)

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pepperhead212
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#3

Post: # 13008Unread post pepperhead212
Thu Mar 05, 2020 10:42 pm

It takes at least 24 hrs for my old Jiffy pellets to totally expand, though I never had any that old!
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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peebee
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#4

Post: # 13017Unread post peebee
Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:57 am

What kind of mesh do these old ones have? I used them 20 years ago but didn't like the outer netting so I removed them when ready to plant. Maybe they were made of different material back then. Kinda cool to have something from so long ago still viable.
Zone 10, Southern California
Will eat anything once before I judge.
Anything meaning any foods of course.

Setec Astronomy
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#5

Post: # 13023Unread post Setec Astronomy
Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:22 am

peebee wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:57 am What kind of mesh do these old ones have?
The mesh seems the same.
peebee wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:57 am Kinda cool to have something from so long ago still viable.
Hey! I'm that old and I'm still viable!

Maybe I just don't remember how tall these 42mm ones get, the Jiffy site says 1-1.5" tall, mine are about 1" this morning.

Clkeiper
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#6

Post: # 13049Unread post Clkeiper
Fri Mar 06, 2020 1:32 pm

yeah, mine are a few years old and only expand to about 1/2 their supposed to be size.

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rdback
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#7

Post: # 13402Unread post rdback
Tue Mar 10, 2020 10:39 am

peebee wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:57 am What kind of mesh do these old ones have? I used them 20 years ago but didn't like the outer netting so I removed them when ready to plant. Maybe they were made of different material back then. Kinda cool to have something from so long ago still viable.
Many years ago, I used Jiffy #7 peat pellets. I also learned you should remove the netting. I simply quit using them lol.

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Setec Astronomy
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Re: Old Jiffy Pellets

#8

Post: # 22635Unread post Setec Astronomy
Tue Jun 16, 2020 8:50 am

I had to replant something that got killed by the frost last month, so I used another one of these fossilized pellets...I found by massaging it I got it to expand to the normal height, so maybe these aren't going in the garbage after all.

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