Letter of Recommendation: CowPots, My Seed-Starting Secret Weapon
After I order my wish list of seeds, the fun begins: coaxing them to grow. It’s certainly not a romantic greenhouse, but it gets the job done.
One of the keys to success is the . After the danger of frost has gone, I plant the odor-free pots directly into the ground, where the pots will decompose in a few months.
Photography courtesy of CowPots.
CowPots come in 14 sizes and shapes, ranging from small three-inch, six-pack cells to larger 16.5 inch diameter pots, which were originally designed for live Christmas trees.
Basil seedlings growing in a six-cell pack.
“This will also encourage better plant growth by allowing plant roots to breathe and improves air pruning.” You’ll know it’s time to water when CowPots change color from dark to light brown.
As the seedlings grow, their roots work their way through the walls of the CowPots. After a few weeks in the ground, the pots will begin to break down.
The Freund family, who invented CowPots and run the company, are second and third generation dairy farmers in northwestern Connecticut. They process the tons of cow manure produced by their milking cows, separating the liquid from the solid.