As I start to contemplate my 2nd grow I want to know why everyone seems to use the solo cups as opposed to peat pots that can simply be buried in the dirt after a week or so? Is it about the beer pong? Cancelled due to Covid Margarita madness parties and leftover supplies? Or is there actually a good reason for it? Would love to hear pros & cons. Had to steal a bunch of cups for my last grow and yes, they sprouted nicely. But why transplant if you don’t have to?
Peat pots suck, they absorb and hold too much moisture and slow down root growth and can stunt plant growth. I’ll take a solo cup with transplants any day over using a peat pot.
I love transplanting, plants always take off after a transplant, learn to do it right and the plants will never suffer from transplanting.
Don’t want to transplant? Well there are much better options than a peat pot, like a Rapid Rooter or Root Riot plug, much better than peat pots.
https://www.amazon.com/Hydrodynamics-International-Root-Riot-Bag/dp/B00CJIYPI4/
https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Rapid-Rooter-Replacement/dp/B0002IU8K2/
Another option I see some growers using these days are nursery seed starting bags, which I plan on using on next grow, no transplant needed and much better than a peat pot.
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I use peat pots. Ive never had a problem with them harming the seedling. I just dont over water. Water once so its wet then dont water again until its planted
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Thank you @Hellraiser and @GhostGrow. Sounds like there are a lot of interesting options. Guess I was wondering if it was more of a cult thing or there were real reasons. I hear from you both that it’s mostly a question of not overwatering as retaining the moisture would be bad. The little seedling bags sound very cool. A lot less expensive than peat pots too. The same idea but less prone to retaining moisture. Thanks for all the help🙏
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The bags also allow the roots to grow freely thru them, where it takes considerably more time for roots to get thru the peat pots.
Check out the grow-off between a couple great members & experienced growers using the grow bags to start the seeds.
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@Hellraiser this is amazing! I’m trying to figure out how to follow along but can’t seem to figure it out 
In the meantime I’m loving pizza as I read the comments and it’s a great precursor to sitting down to trim my first batch of my first grow. Yayyyyyyyyy
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Like you picked it out of my head haha!
Another benefit to potting up is controlling watering amounts. And I heartily second peat pots suck. @Not2SureYet has some bags he’s using along with Solo cups. He gave me some but I couldn’t put my hands on em by the time I needed em haha.
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Congrats on your first harvest, wish you many more to come.
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Yeah I’m gonna try them bags next grow, looks like @Nicky and @Not2SureYet are having a good time with them.
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We are, although be careful some are more plastic like then others.
Feel them and if they don’t feel right send em back /don’t buy them.
I think putting a rapid rooter in them is a good idea to hold The base together when the medium dries out a bit and cracks apart
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I too think peat pots suck for all the reasons mentioned! Solos are cheap easy to get anywhere and if you get clear and colored you can put your seedling in the clear and set it in the colored one. Then you can see root development simply by removing clear cup!
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I just purchased some of these to trial next run, I saw them on Nicky and not2sures auto thread and wanted to try them, as they peaked my interest too…
Main reason I used solo’s, simple so I could monitor root growth (double cup, clear then coloured)
However, I have used peat pellets and they worked a treat, although some don’t like them either…
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Thank you @Hellraiser. I’m totally obsessed now. Don’t even know what I’m going to do with it all but the grows will continue as will the Learning & improving!
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@Holmes. Making science even more fun! Great tip!
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@Nicky do you recommend a brand? It’s hard to know when buying on line
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@Enlightened420. There definitely seem to be a lot of hard opinions in every direction 
. Hard to sort through but I imagine that a weed is a weed and will grow given the right conditions. Eventually comes down to personal preference and a little experimentation
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Exacttly!
again Exactly!
and again Exactly!
This weed wants to grow…if we do not mess it up. Now that you have all this info you can try some of them , maybe, and then you will know what you like and what works for you. Every grower has there little tricks that work, and some tricks are just BS but it is like your favorite pair of Levi’s, you keep going back to that because you like it and or it gets it done! Sorry for the long post, but I am high!
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Solo cups are just about perfect because they are shaped like a plug, the cup itself can be used as a mold to ensure no air pockets during transplant. The volume is ideal to complete the seedling stage. The plant comes out super easy too. You can use a bic lighter to quickly melt drain holes in the bottom edge. And as said, you can use a clear cup in a red cup for easy determination of root growth. In essence, its a larger peat pot andncan easily be overwatered too.
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@Holmes Lol! You did great! One of my favorite Burning man stories is when I went to the info tent in order to use the self service computer. There was a guy there who asked me what I needed so I told him assuming he was a volunteer. After about 10 minutes of him trying to type (and me starting to contemplate homicide) he finally turned to me and said “this doesn’t work so well when you’re tripping” 
. I agreed and he let me take over. All well that ends well…
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Yeah it’s hard to know, I’m on the Canadian side so amazon is different