I'd probably go ahead and transplant them into a bigger pot. I start my seeds in trays then transplant directly into a 6-8" pot when they start getting their first true leaves. I was advised to put them in bigger pots but I just won't have the room this winter in the GH for 100 more gallon pots. They seem to grow pretty slowly to me so I'm hoping what they are in will suffice for now. Since this is my first year growing seedlings I'm not sure what to expect. Here's pics of some of my seedlings at different ages: The first is a tray of 3 wk old seedlings, next is one about 5 wks and the last is about 3 months old. Sorry about the pic quality, I just took them and it's dark out.
Karyn

Hi Karyn,

Ooooh, your babies are HUGE! Good job (even though I am jealous...green with envy...lol)

Okay, should I water then turn the little pot upside down and take it out, or should I do this when they're dry? Trying to figure out how NOT to damage their fragile little roots.

Okay, you guys are gonna laugh, but I either have a deformed plant on my hands or I swear one is trying to branch. I'm going to keep my eye on it and probably feel really stupid later, but I swear the thing is really trying to branch!

Thanks,
Jerri : )

Jerri- remember seedlings are not cuttings. Cuttings=no water. Seedlings=water and fertilizer from the start. I put a little less than a teaspoon in a gallon of drinking water and water every 2-4 days . Also number your seedlings like Cindy Moragne #23 so you can keep track of the flowers for the second year. Mark the number on the id tag. Last year my Cindy #6 was red, 10 was white, 9 was red/pink and 3 was orange. This year I have another twenty ready to bloom. The second year blooms on the four might be new colors so the number help to keep track. Bill

Hi Bill,

I have all my babies tagged, but because it's so hot here I have to water everyday because they are in such small pots they dry out quickly. My ID system isn't as intricate as yours because alot of my seeds are from unnamed plants. Not to be a smarty pants, but Cindy Moragne # 23 could walk up and slap me in the face and I wouldn't know who she was! LOL Guess I gotta go break my book out now! I label with "pink seeds" or "rainbow seeds" and the date I planted and where they came from. Can you register a new plant if you don't know the parentage? (not that I'm ever gonna be close to doing that!)

When I transplant my babies, will the roots get less damage if I water first or if I do it when they are dry? Will probably do that this weekend. Thanks for the info on the fertilizing. I don't think I have been giving them enough!

Jerri : )

Mine are all mixed and I have no idea what the parent plants were, mutt plumeria seeds : ) All my brug crosses are labeled and have the growers name if the seeds weren't from my plants. At the risk of being ostracized from this forum I'm really into brugs.
Karyn

Jerri the plumeria seedlings are pretty resilient and don't seem to have any problems when they are transplanted. I don't do anything special to prepare them. I just shove them into the new pot and water them afterwards. I use a completely different potting mix for the seedlings than I use for cuttings. I just use a high quality potting mix and add a bit of perlite. I've slowly moved the older ones into full sun all day, the really young ones only get full sun in the morning. I think your babies will do just fine.
Karyn

Thanks Karyn. I think I will move my babies out of full sun, maybe they will grow faster like yours. I am using Scott's brand potting soil, should I go to a better brand such as miracle gro before I repot?

What are brugs please? It sounds like a cave man (I read the Clan of the Cave Bear series and I think that was the name of one of the mean cavemen!)

Jerri : )

Jerri I use 3B by Fafard. It's a sphagnum peat, pine bark, perlite, vermiculite mix and is very well draining. I don't like the Scott's or most of the brands available at hardware stores. They all seem too "fluffy" to me and don't drain as well, even when ammended and many of them are made with water retention materials and/or fertilizer. You can also combine your own ingredients to make your own mix.

Brugs are brugmansias, which I just love. You can see one peeking out behind a couple of my seedling pics. They are just beautiful and very easy to grow : )
Karyn

I transplanted 25 last night. They had just set their second leafs. I start all mine in the long trough type planter I had 48 seed all but three made it. It looks like the rest will me in pot by Thurs. I put them in 6" pot and if they make it through the winter they will be moved in to gallon pot in late spring. They all had good looking strong roots. After I get back from vacation I'm going to plant 40 or 50 more. I dinning room window will be full this winter. They will get strong northeast exposure all winter long till they are ready to move back outside. I use those big throw away foil pans to put under them so I can keep their roots watered all winter so a save the wood floors.
Don

Brugs are also known as angels trumpets. I can see the blooms on Karyns in her pictures above. The only reason I know this is because I kept reading about people liking brugs, and had to go to google....now I'm thinking about joining brugs anonymous...well, not just yet...but they are beautiful, and have wonderful smells from what I read.

John