A seedling pot you never tip out: you put it in the ground as-is, plant included, and it breaks down in the soil.

What it solves: some plants hate having their roots touched, and it costs dearly. The cucurbits — cucumbers, squash, melons, cucamelons — sulk for weeks after a rough repotting, sometimes for the whole season. Taprooted umbellifers — dill, root parsley, cilantro — snap their taproot at transplanting and never fully recover. Corn doesn't like it either. For all those crops the biodegradable pot is the answer: the plant doesn't even know it moved.

There's a less obvious benefit too. Non-woven fabric lets air through, which produces the same air-pruning effect as our fabric pots: when the root reaches the wall it meets air, dries at the tip and stops lengthening, and the plant branches further back. Instead of the tight knot found at the bottom of plastic cells, you get a dense root ball of fine rootlets, ready to go the moment they hit the ground.

Two moves that make the difference at planting: wet the pot before burying it — a dry pot pumps water out of the soil instead of giving it to the plant; and bury it completely, leaving no rim showing, because a rim exposed to the air acts like a wick and dries the root ball. If needed, tear the bottom slightly before planting.

• Seedling pot made of biodegradable non-woven fabric.
• Measures ~8.89 cm × 11.94 cm (3.5" × 4.7").
• Plants directly in the ground: no repotting, no transplant shock.
• Promotes air pruning and a root ball of fine, branched roots.
• Available in multi-size packs.
• Essential for: cucumbers, squash, melons, cucamelons, dill, root parsley, corn.