REALLY basic question about transplanting seedlings

Most of my seeds have germinated and are now under lights. I THINK I'm fairly up to speed on when they need to be transplanted, that whole 2 'real leaves' business.

What I don't know is 1) why I'm supposed to transplant them at that point, 2) what medium I'm supposed to put them into, 3) since I've used those little jiffy peat pots, am I supposed to simply place the peat bag in the new medium or should I get them out of the peat and into the new medium, 4) do they then need to go back under the lights, and 5) can I use disposable picnic -style plastic cups for this transplant?

Thanks

These are purely my thoughts on these questions, and definitely not gospel, so...

1.) The 2 sets of leaves thing basically means that by the time the seedling reaches that stage it pretty much needs to be planted in what will be it's permanent home...whether in the ground or a bigger container.

2.) The medium they go into depends on if you're moving them to bigger containers or into the ground. It depends on the plant itself and what type of soil it needs/wants...many things can do well in store bought potting soil. Ck. the needs of the particular plant. Same thing applies to if you're planting them in the garden.

3.) Those peat pots (from my understanding, anyway) are meant to be planted once the roots start coming through the sides...this way you plant the whole thing and don't damage the seedling. It's a pretty ingenious idea. That's how I've always done it.

4.) Can't give you a definite answer on the lights as I've never used them and don't want to mislead you.

5. ) I've used the dispoasble picnic cups many times...just make sure you don't plant the cup...remove the plant and then plant it. Then you can re-use the cup again.

Again, just MHO's !

Hi JasperDale!

Now I've read that since I planted my seeds in those expanding peat pellets, as long as I only nurture one germinated seed / seedling per pellet I can leave them in those until transplant into the ground?!?

But everything else I've come across says you're supposed to transplant them once those secondary leaves form.

I honestly don't mean to make it harder than it is...one of the things I like about sharing info and ideas, tho, is it sure cuts down on the 'error' part of trial and error. Thanks for your patience, you've been terrific.

Sounds like JasperDale has you going here. One thing I might add that I have read and always try to do- they say that if any of the sides of the peat pot stick up out of the soil, the peat acts as a wick and moisture from down below evaporates into the air making you have to water more often. It only takes a few seconds to tear off the top inch or so of the peat pot so that you bury it completely.

Waiting until a second or third set of leaves is fine, too, if you want to.

And leaving the ones that are going to go into the ground later in the original peat pots until it's time to plant outside, you can just judge by how crowded the roots are getting. If roots are growing through the sides all over the place and looking for a place to expand, then you prob. need to put the peat pot and all in something a little bigger until time to put it in the ground.

This all sounds like fun!

Yes, please note that I'm not starting with peat POTS but the peat expanding pellets, the kind in a plastic tray that come with the clear plastic 'dome.'

I'd much rather NOT transplant a seedling out of them until roots are super well established, but I keep hearing that I need to get them into 2 inch+ pots when those ever-crucial 2 first leaves emerge.

JasperDale says when those leaves emerge it means they're ready for they're ready for their permanent home, but I was planning to move them out of my kitchen and into to my mini-greenhouse until after frost.

But if the roots aren't sticking through the web of the peat pellets do they still need to be transplanted in the interim - like, should I fill the plastic picnic cup with planting mix and set the pellet in that before the roots have a chance to reach the web?

Or should I try to dig the little seedling out of the pellet and put it into the new medium...seems like the seedlings wouldn't be able to handle that.

Common sense tells me to transfer the entire pellet, but in all honesty my common sense has killed a lot of plants.
Thanks.

The peat pellets are just soil. They are basically "flat pack soil". Just pot the seedlings into a bigger pot when they are ready; take it out of the pot it is in now and put it in a bigger pot - don't brush all the soil off the roots or anything just shove it straight in the new pot.

Dipsydoodle,

Is Newcastle upon Tyne nice? The name has a lovely ring to it. Would have Dmailed this question but still can't figure out how to do it.

Debi: sending a dmail is easy:

1.) click on the members name
2.) It will take you to their profile page
3.) Click where it says "Send Joe Smith a d mail "
( I just used the name Joe Smith as an example)
4.) In the subject line, just type in whatever you want, like, "Hello"
5.) In the next box type your message
6.) When you're done writing, it may ask you to preview your letter...if so, preview it and make any changes if you want
7.) When it says what you want, and you are satisfied with the content, click "send".

It is DebiH. Don't worry I haven't tried D-mail either (sorry for hijacking your original post)

I've attached some photos for you to see

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Tyne_Bridge_-_Newcastle_Upon_Tyne_-_England_-_2004-08-14.jpg That is our Tyne Bridge.

http://www.old-timers.co.uk/images/newcastle_upon_tyne.jpg The Millenium Bridge - it gets lit up at night and looks beautiful.

http://www.visitnewcastle.org.uk/images/tyne_bridge_newcastle.jpg The Tyne bridge from the other side.

We also have The Sage - it's a music place http://www.theatresonline.com/theatres/newcastle/sage/images/index.jpg (it does look nicer than the photo).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2049/2337736695_51035ce71f.jpg?v=0 The castle and one of the cathedrals in the background.

We also have the "Metro Centre" which was until last year or the year before the biggest shopping centre in Europe.

We have beatuful costal routes within a 15minute drive away, the country is 30mins away.

We also have this http://www.dsphotographic.com/g2/17282-3/Angel+of+the+North+-+006.jpg just south of Newcastle; it's called the Angel of the North.

http://www.dsphotographic.com/g2/17280-3/Angel+of+the+North+-+004.jpg The angel again

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/images/2007/02/20/tynemouth_470x353.jpg Is one of the beaches; it’s got a Priory there as well

http://www.leeandpennysadventures.com/Tynemouth%20Longsands.JPG another beach a stones throw away from the previous one

http://home.att.net/~BARRYSHEENE/HAMS/northscenes/bamburgh.jpg This is Bamburgh Castle which is about 30-40mins north of Newcastle

http://travel.sky.com/cms/images/inspiration/britain_the_new_abroad/Bamburgh_Castle_PHOTOSHOT_333x222.jpg One of the beaches at Bamburgh

From Bamburgh you can also see a place called Holy Island which is an island with a causeway (a road that gets covered by the sea and you can only pass on low tide). It has a church and priory – it’s where the Lindesfarne Gospels were written if you know what they are.

http://ww2.durham.gov.uk/nd/nsmr/m/N5338d.jpg Holy Island (it’s the bigger one at the back).

http://www.lakedistrictnow.net/assets/images/200803/causeway-to-Holy-Island.jpg the tide starting to cover the causeway.

http://www.jfmedia.co.uk/uploads/images/showreel/holy%20island%20still.jpg The castle at Holy Island.

http://www.freefoto.com/images/1033/13/1033_13_60---Saint-Aidan--Holy-Island--Northumberland_web.jpg A statue of St Aidan who is famous on Holy Island.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/img_400/holyisland_lindisfarne_340x.jpg The priory at Holy Island (sorry I couldn’t find a nice photo).

I did look for photo’s of the Lindesfarne Gospels but there were too many to choose from – I just typed it in on google images and came up with thousands of photos.

Lastly about Newcastle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_upon_Tyne

Sorry I got carried away :).

I use the same soil mixture the nurserys do, and just add soil to a flat tray, throw the seeds in and cover in vermiculite. When the seedlings have second set of leaves, I transplant into 4-pks or larger inserts I purchase at nursery.