This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Transplanting

Dot,

Did you transplant these outside or into bigger pots? If it was outside, I
would definitely recommend not planting more out and cover the ones you did
with a little green house made from 2-liter pop bottles or bring them back
in. We don't generally plant tomatoes or peppers out until early to mid-May
and we are in Tacoma, WA -- same zones as you.

However, if you are just moving to a bigger pot, the peppers don't really
need to be buried above the first leaves. If the stems look week bury to
first leaves. I personally do not use fertilizers like miracle grow because
they are not organic. But using a weak fertilizer on transplants and inside
plants is a good idea as long as it does not contain too much nitrogen. Too
much N on tomatoes and peppers and most flower or pod producing vegetables
will make lots of leaves but few fruit.

If these are still inside, you may want to place a low fan near the
peppers/tomatoes before planting out as some of us thinks this helps
strengthen the stems. When we plant tomatoes outside we plant them deep
enough for soil to cover the first two leaves. However, as I said, I think
it is too early to plant these outside.

And now I see that you did indicate that they are not outside, so ignore
that bit. Also, if you plant them in big enough pots now, you won't have to
repeatedly transplant. I've found that repeated transplanting can stunt
growth or harm roots. Go ahead a mix a little WELL COMPOSTED compost into
the starter mix.

Basically your starts should look green and upright and not be too spindly.
If they look sick to you they probably are -- just forget about them, they
won't be worth the hassle of growing and it is early enough to grow more
starts if you need to.

Good Luck,
Natalie

Natalie McNair-Huff
Happily Gardening in Tacoma, WA Sunset zone 5; USDA Zone 7/8
Publisher/Editor Mac Net Journal http://www.blol.com/web_mnj/
References:
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index