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Growing from Seed

I've got seedlings...now what?

17 years ago

I have a greenhouse and I planted veggie seeds in trays that have compartments about 1-1/2" in diameter and 1-1/2" deep about 4 days ago. I'm using clear domes and heat mats, and I've already got about 50% germination (about 300 seedlings so far). In a couple of days the seedlings will be bumping the domes and I guess I'll remove the domes so the seedlings have room. I'm in Zone 8 and it's still in the low 50's during the day and high 30's at night. My mats keep the seedlings at about 75F, and the greenhouse ranges from about 50F at night to 70-80F during the day. I have shade cloth up.

I figure it will be about 6 weeks before I put these babies in the ground. My question is: How long can I leave the seedlings in the propagation trays before I need to transplant into pots? I'm trying to figure out if I can avoid all the work of transplanting to 4" pots, or if that would be shortsighted.

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Comments (4)

tanyag
17 years ago
That's a good question. I have two different kinds of seed starting trays. Both say to leave them in the trays for 6-8 weeks so you should be okay. I am new to seed starting and just repeating what I've read through thread searches. I think the growth slows down a bit after the first jolt of growth. At a certain point, I would think it okay to turn off the heating pads. Tomatoes can survive as low as 50F, so unless it gets colder than that, I would turn it off. This might also "slow" the growth a bit. I live in Houston so as soon as mine are ready, I can safely put them in their pots. I don't grow in ground here. The soil stinks, and as a teacher, I can't find time to work the soil when it needs to be worked.=0( Good luck!
kudzu9
Original Author
17 years ago
tanyag-
Thanks...that's useful info and encouraging. I'm in the Pacific NW (Seattle), so if anyone has additional experience to share that is specific to my location -- especially relating to timing on planting out -- please chime-in.
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You probably did buy from us, we are one of the largest US sellers of seeds on Ebay actually. I dont advertise that on Gardenweb because mostly Im just trying to help people get into the hobby here :). We fertilize yes, it helps get them growing nice and strong. I would move the seedlings into the bigger cups if you can, maybe wait until spring to do so :) If those are all 8-9mos you could definitely get a bit better growth out of repotting. I would unpot a few of them and see how the roots look. Check to see if they are beginning to make a 2nd root, or if they are losing their roots under ground. Its always a good idea to do spot checks like that as things grow IMO. -Jon
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I don't think there's a better feeling than when you create something with your own hands and it turns out better than you imagined. It feels good to sit back and take it all in. I upgraded my setup yesterday. I added cross beams on the top and an additional shelf. I'm up to 3 lights now, and I doubt that will be enough. I have some peppers(under the towel) germinating on the bottom. Seedlings are under the lights, while cucumbers, tomatoes, and cantaloupes are on the top. Congrats on the successful DIY project. Hopefully your season will turn out just as good. Tim
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Thank you gdinie :) I hope so too. My family kind of shakes their heads at me about this. But I tell them my schedule for this bed to be worked on and implemented in for this plant phase is 2018, so starting these seeds now makes perfect sense. I got a lot of gardening going on all the time, so planning out some beds a year or three ahead like this is actually kind of nice and relaxing. And really.. for a bit of friendship, postage, and patient time- I will be getting what around here would cost potentially several hundred dollars or more in landscaping costs. And the friendship, postage, and patient time are far better spent for me.
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richiee
17 years ago
When I plant seeds in trays w/domes - seed come up long & stringy . Why?
tanyag
17 years ago
Probably not enough light. Move trays closer to light source.

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