Re: Seeds

Hi Janet

I'm no expert, but it helps if the soil is just slightly damp, NOT 
wet or too dry  when separating seedlings. Some plants are tough as 
nails even when small, they would have to be if Jim Crockett dropped 
them from a foot! I use soiless mix when starting seeds, and when I 
transplant, usually when they have true leaves, I just gently knock 
the soil on the table and if the soil is just the right dampness, the 
seedlings either separate themselves, or can be coaxed apart easily 
by tugging on the leaves.

I know the curse of not having enough indoor space. Cold frames help 
here and the transplants often enjoy growing on in a cooler 
temperature than can be achieved indoors.

Gail


At 2:24 PM -0400 6/27/00, Janet N. Yang wrote:
>    When you sow a bunch of seeds into one small pot, intending to
>separate them later, when is the best time to separate them?
>    Crockett said to wait until the seedlings had a pair of true leaves.
>He would upend the pot, tap out the ball of soil, then upend it and drop
>it from a height of about one foot. This would cause the ball of soil to
>fall apart, separating the seedlings without his having to pull them
>apart.
>    Due to lack of indoor space, I procrastinated on repotting and
>waited until they were all crowded and had several sets of leaves. They
>were hard to separate; sometimes I pulled them the clump apart, and
>sometimes I used a serrated knife to slice the roots.
>    Problem is, with all those sets of leaves, the plants were kind of
>top-heavy while the roots were still spidery little things. After
>transplanting, I firmed up the soil around the crown, but was afraid to
>push too hard and damage the stem. The plantlets kind of tilted into the
>soil.
>    Now I'm wondering if seedlings should be separated earlier, rather
>than later. They seem so fragile when they only have two true leaves,
>but more-developed plants seem have trouble holding their heads up.
>    When do you transplant?
>
>Janet
>
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