That sure wouldn't be how I would grow them, even if my lights were suspended directly overhead the containers. I also despise germination mixes and get the seedlings out of them as soon as possible.

I'd advise you to think about employing a coarse textured, very porous and fast draining. It looks like those seedlings will be growing in those large containers for awhile.....better provide the type of potting medium that will encourage vigorous, well-branched root systems.

Agree with rhizo. The simple answer to your question is yes you do need to transplant them to a growing mix (not a soil but a soil-less mix). However ideally you shouldn't just layer it on top as that creates a perched water table between the two mixes and that can cause drainage issues that can lead to root rot. Rather it should be used to fill the containers the seedlings get transplanted into.

More importantly if those plastic domes are covering germinated seedlings - can't tell from the pics - then you need to get those plastic domes off the plants. They are used to germinate only and create serious problems if left in place after germination.

Dave

This is a pic of pepper seeds that were sowed into a germination mix. I really don't like germination mixes because they are too fine and dense, but I had run out of my normal sowing mix. Notice there is very little perlite and bark pieces. When I transplant these seedlings out, they will go into a much coarser mix.

Here is a picture of what my normal SOWING mix looks like. Notice there is alot more perlite and bark pieces in the picture below. I typically will transplant these seedlings into Fafards 52 mix, my all-time favorite soilless mix. BUT, if your mix(in the white containers) looks like the mix below and is SOILLESS (meaning it only consists of peat, perlite, vermiculite, bark, and not REAL soil) then you should be OK.

With that said, I think you need to get more soil into your containers. You are on the right track about sinking your seedlings during transplanting so they don't get leggy, but you need to provide them more soil to grow in AND provide a light source right above them or else they will get leggy real quick!

Here is a picture of pepper seedlings recently transplanted into their own containers (the clear cups work indoors only, I tried experimenting with them one spring. I prefer transplanting into 9 or 18 oz. SOLO cups, I just didn't have a good picture to show). Notice how high the soil line is in the cup? That is what you should be shooting for.

Let us know what type of mix your seedlings are in, and if it was me (and I was happy with my soil mix), I would pop those seedlings up and out and add more soil to the containers. Hope the pictures help :)

p.s. I agree with the above poster, those domes should only be on for germinating seeds. If you have seedlings under them, get those domes off!

-m

The posters above have the best information, so go with them! I'll just feed in my own two cents from my own experience.

From what I understand, the problem with 'grow' soil is that it's often filled with fertilizers and other stuff that is geared towards full-sized plants a person'd generally get at a nursery, place in a pot (or a garden if it's garden soil), and let them be pretty and/or bear produce until their season is over. It's not made for seedlings.

The soil you are going to use when they get big enough will probably depend on whether you're having these plants stay inside all year, or have them eventually placed in a garden or in a pot outside for the growing season.