I find it helps, sometimes, to water the container well before I plant out. Sometimes, it helps keep the soil together.

My seedlings get watered in with liquid fertilizer watered down to 25% of recommended strength. I always intend to get back with 50% fertilizer and so on, but I never have gotten to it....Too busy planting out.

In the beginning I would go ahead an plant out the individual seedlings you mention. I was being frugal and making them go further. Pillbugs helped me to understand I'm not getting any extra mileage. So even if they've fallen apart, I stick a few seedlings in the same hole, HOS style. It gives me a shot at a survivor in each location. :( I'd like to take a blow torch....

on the opposite end of seedmama's technique I guess here I am:

I don't water before planting out; I make a point NOT to.

I tip up the container (in my hand or on the ground; seedlings don't mind standing on their heads for a few seconds), emptying the whole mass.

Once I have the whole giant 'brownie cake' from the container, I either break manually with my hands or use a trowel to cut BREAKING/CUTTING INTO THE SIDE OF THE CAKE. I may cut the next section in half, and in half again, and again until my pieces are as small as I want them.

Some seedlings you've no doubt found out that they simply can't be done 'singly.'

Oh, and although I don't use one, I've heard that a fork is a good tool to use with softened soil, or even to cut into the side of the cake.

Sounds like others do their "hunking" in the "field" so to speak---- I prefer to do mine at my potting bench. I tip the brownie, lay it down on a sturdy tray, and cut it up with a sharp knife (just like I would a real browie). Soemtimes if it looks like I am going to have more seedlings than I can plant, I will only cut up a quarter or a half and then stick the rest of the "almost whole" brownie back in the container or make a tray of different almost whole brownies to give to a friend.

Oh and they laugh at my toilet paper rolls.... it takes too long to sow like that.... why bother? You thought I was being anal or too OCD...

Well Nancy, I like the idea of using smaller containers. Most of my annuals will be sown in paper cups or newspaper pots. This HOS method has me worried a bit. Some of my seedlings have wilted down pretty bad today. I watered everything in, and I almost know they'll come back, but I don't want to be what kills them.

Individual cups or pots of any kind are too slow on the sowing end for me. Much faster to dump dirt and seeds into one big jug.

I try to water the day before I plant out, I seem to end up with a better consistency for cutting. Like Nan, I remove the whole thing from the jug, then dump in a flat, cut into squares with a knife, like a pan of brownies, plant those with a spoon.

Karen

You know, if you did them in gallon jugs you might be able to use a small bulb planter. Use the bulb planter to make a hole in the earth, then use it again to cut out a hunk of seedlings and then slide the little buggers in there.

I am going to use a bulb planter to make holes for my tp rolls.

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I bought a bulb planter once. It's hanging in the garage after I realized it would take me years to plant bulbs in the stone and clay I have in my yard. Now I use a bulb auger and my cordless drill. Much quicker.

My beds now are better than when I moved here in 2007. I added 8" of leaf mulch to them last summer. So I was able to plant out using a spoon and my fingers. 10 2-liter containers and two lasagna pans took me about 4 hours. I gotta pick up the pace with 170+ containers to do.

Perhaps then your "secret tools" should be a heating pad and a tube of Ben Gay!! I think you might them!

How did you know my back was hurting? I must have pulled something yesterday when I was shoveling mulch. I laid on the sofa last night with the heating pad on it until I was sweating. This morning, it took me a while to get out of bed. It's better after a swing in the hammock, but I know my legs will be sore tomorrow from all the squatting. I'll be paying for that 14 weeks of not working tomorrow. But I've been busy. My blog proves it. LOL

I almost never do the HOS method, but I also almost never get things planted out when they're tiny. I put 10-20 seeds in a 2-liter. My pillbugs aren't as much of a problem as they are for seedmama.

I don't know if your springs are wet--if they're not, you will need to keep watering the beds. If it's a hot day, you should rig some shade over the planted sprouts, that will reduce wilting. They should be fine regardless, but you mentioned that you don't want to be what kills them!

When I divide a container up, I get it wet to help loosen things up, since I usually have roots all through it. I take the whole thing out, and tear off seedlings or chunks by hand--usually the whole root will stay with the seedling that way.

Token, I love the bulb auger--we call it the Daffo-drill. However, keep an eye on your cordless drill-mine got really hot, then reverse didn't work anymore (a 12V gun). We fixed it, but now I drag out the long extension cords and use a corded drill. Even in sandy soil, surface roots make those little bulb things into wrist-killers. They're great in prepared beds, though, and I've read of people using them to plant small nursery plants.

Nancy, I'm sorry if anyone dissed your method. I think WS allows people to be as careful or casual as they want, and usually people are just stating what works for them. Sometimes we ask a lot of questions to understand better; maybe we'll want to try it, or we're checking for a mistake that will ruin things. I think a lot of new people approach WS like it's going to have serious rules like indoor sowing (soil must be sterile, lights must be this far, never start too early) so we want people to let go of that feeling and relax. I don't remember anyone calling you OCD, but maybe lots of questions, and people preferring less prep time in winter, led you to infer that. I've thought about sowing in little annual seedling flats, myself, but that would only be if I did planting out in spring for sure.

Thanks stage rat.

I'm trying to get all my seedlings planted just after the first true leaves appear. I've had better luck with small plants here than with larger more expensive container grown stock. Doing it earlier rather than later saves me the trouble of having to water so much all summer since things tend to get their roots down long before the heat arrives. Last year I had good luck doing petunias this way and covering them during light frosts. This year I shouldn't have to worry about that, I hope.

That auger has ripped the drill out of my hands several times. I use it to plant 1 gallon or smaller containers. I can wiggle it side to side in the hole to make it larger. Beats hauling out the shovel.

Stage rat: "Nancy, I'm sorry if anyone dissed your method. I think WS allows people to be as careful or casual as they want, and usually people are just stating what works for them."

Oh stage rat, I appreciate your concern, but I was really being sarcastic! No one "dissed" my method and I have been the one to bring up my OCD! I was just messin' with Token! I'm sorry if anyone took it any other way. The people here have been nothing but kind!!

Nancy has a bad case of zone envy. And I have a bad case of being a horse's a$$ at times.

This is a very nice thread. Hopefully, someone can post a video of their actual HOS. :)

Token: "Nancy has a bad case of zone envy. And I have a bad case of being a horse's a$$ at times."

Nancy's also bipolar and is very, very low on estrogen... I'd watch out if I were you!

LOL! Taking my testosterone home.

Cracking up Nancy!
I'm loving this thread. As a newbie, I too have some containers that I "think" are ready to plant out (don't shoot me). I had no idea that I'd have some so early. I'm not even finished preparing my beds. I'll try to post some pics sometime to get everyone's opinion on if they are "ready". Token, maybe you can post some of yours for a visual for the newbs... Nikki

Awe Nikki... I don't bring out the big guns until someone says "blooms" or if I'm in a really bad mood, "bud" will sometimes do it. You're pretty safe for now!

You want pictures? Okay. Nancy, just ignore this post. :)

The lasagna pans contained diathus pinks maiden and trailing carnations. In the two-liter soda bottles were sea holly, cupid's dart(2), hollyhocks(2), scabiosa(3), dianthus 'Sweet William', and lamb's ear.

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cupid's dart
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hollyhock
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dianthus - either pinks maiden or trailing carnation
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scabiosa
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We're supposed to get down close to freezing in a couple nights. But we have lots of rain coming on Saturday. I hope to get the rest of my hoophouse transplants in before then. Mostly shastas and rudebckia that I started from seed in October.

Those look good, Token! I'm not concerned... your pots look great and I have nothing yet.

I sent my son, who was in a very "gardening" mood, outside yesterday and told him to stir up my bed to mix in the sand I had put down over the winter. Two inches down it's still solid. Another month of waiting...

Everything is just so tiny. And this month has been awfully warm even for us. Makes me worry what July is going to be like. 109 is the record. Thankfully, this old house is easier to cool than it is to heat. And the water is cheap.

Well, when your temperatures do reach 109, (in the shade) you can think of me, sitting by the pool under my umbrella, reading a good book, sipping on sweet tea and checking pool passes.

Yeah... it's a tough job.

Loving the attitude in this thread, lol. Your sprouts are adorable. On a side note I summer sowed some things like dianthus and coreopsis planted them out at something like that size. They look just the same when I checked them yesterday. It's amazing how tough those tiny plants are.

When it does reach 100+, I'll be on the lake.

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It's a rough life we have.

Lake, huh? You got one of those? Besides our Great Lake, Lake Michigan, I live across the street from Lake County, Illinois. You want lakes, we got 'em!

Besides Lake Michigan, lakes in the county include:

Lake Amy
Antioch Lake
Ashley Lake
Bangs Lake
Lake Barrington
Benet Lake
Big Bear Lake
Bluff Lake
Brandenburg Lake
Bresen Lake
Butler Lake
Lake Catherine
Cedar Lake
Channel Lake
Lake Charles
Countryside Lake
Cranberry Lake
Crooked Lake
Cross Lake
Davis Lake
Davlins Pond
Dead Lake
Deep Lake
Deer Lake
Diamond Lake
Druce Lake
Duck Lake
Dunns Lake
East Loon Lake
Echo Lake
Lake Eleanor
Elmwood Farms Lake
Lake Fairfield
Fish Lake
Forest Lake
Fourth Lake
Fox Lake
Gages Lake
Lake Germaine
Grandwood Lake
Grass Lake
Grassy Lake
Grayslake
Harvey Lake
Hastings Lake
Hendrick Lake
Highland Lake
Homer White Lake
Honey Lake
Huntley Lake
Island Lake
Lambs Lake
Leo Lake
Liberty Lake
Lake Linden
Little Bear Lake
Loch Lomond
Long Lake
Loon Lake
Lake Louise
Lucky Lake
Lake Marie
Miltmore Lake
Minear Lake
Mud Lake
Lake Naomi
Nippersink Lake
North Tower Lake
Petite Lake
Pistakee Lake
Lake Potomac
Redhead Lake
Redwing Slough Lake
Round Lake
Saint Marys Lake
Sand Lake
Sand Pond
Schreiber Lake
Shady Lane Resort Lake
Lake Sheree
Silver Lake
Slocum Lake
Slough Lake
Spring Lake
Sterling Lake
Sullivan Lake
Sun Lake
Sylvan Lake
Third Lake
Timber Lake
Tower Lake
Turner Lake
Twin Lakes
Valley Lake
Waterford Lake
West Lake
White Lake
Wooster Lake
Lake Zurich

Wow! Nancy that's alot of lakes!If you want to pass one of your guns over, I'll help you take out token!
-B(who has zone envy-it snowed again last night!)

I should know better than to try to argue with women. Sheesh.

A side note: My seedlings look pretty good this morning. Some of them still look kinda puny, but the scabiosa and dianthus are hanging in there. I'm off to play in the dirt some more. Monday I have a new project I'll be working on so my play time will be limited.

Well, sufferin' seedlings! You can't abandon them!

On another note... we're expecting more snow....
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all the talk of sprouts ...that I don't have
and brownies that I can't have...
plus the cold that I do have... You guys are KILLIN me.

I am making a tee shirt with that squirrel on it! Very True here in South coast of MA>

It's snowing here too. :( No sprouts but the Daff's are peeking out.

Oh nancy d. That pic is hilarious and says it all! :-D
Kris

I want to put that poor squirrel on a shirt for my hubby!!!! Bet he wouldn't wear it, but I love it!!!

Thanks for making it a hilarious morning!

glo (who woke up to freezing fog today and the trees are just gorgeous even tho I have NO sign of sprouts anywhere!)

my secret tool??? home cooked dinner - hubs will do just about anything for one....including watering my jugs

Love that squirrel! may just iron that onto a t-shirt as well