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Post by daylilydude on Apr 9, 2018 4:22:43 GMT -5
When you start plants from seed and they germinate... do you cull them so that you only have one plant to pot up or do you try to grow them all?
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Apr 9, 2018 7:06:00 GMT -5
This year was an unusual year for me. I babied plants and I don't usually baby stuff. Take those Frosty Pink Plums for instance, normally tomato plants like that would have went in the trash, but I had no more seeds and no other seed source, so I gave them every opportunity.
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Post by brownrexx on Apr 9, 2018 7:16:57 GMT -5
I think that I may be in the minority here because I have seen threads where posters talk about teasing roots apart in seedlings that have grown together. I do not do this.
I start my seeds in cell packs and I plant 3 seeds per cell, one in the exact middle and 2 others to the sides in case the middle one does not look good.
When they germinate, if the middle one looks good, the other 2 get pulled out. I feel bad doing it but I end up with one strong little plant per cell with no competition for light or nutrients.
They stay in these cells for several weeks until they reach the top adjustment of the lights and by that time the roots have filled a good portion of the cells and then they get potted up.
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Post by carolyn on Apr 9, 2018 7:46:31 GMT -5
I am a bit different than most of you here, but I do toss things that look spindly or pathetic. but I grow hundreds of many varieties. not just a few of most of them. if it is just a few it is usually only for my growing and not to share or sell. I grow them until I need them and then what I don't use I toss.
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Post by paulf on Apr 9, 2018 8:41:30 GMT -5
When tomatoes and peppers get started I put 5-10 seeds in a 6-pack plastic pot. At the two leaf stage or four leaf stage (whenever I have time ) all plants get re-potted into individual 2 inch plastic pots. During that re-potting session, anything looking small or unhealthy gets rouged out. Still indoors and under lights all 400 plants get treated the same (this year 200 since I have cut back a bit).
When the time comes for hardening off there will be several seedling that did not make it or grew out strangely or were the wrong leaf type or something and those all get eliminated. Sometimes the odd ones get segregated into a flat since some people who are looking for a few plants to grow don't really care what they are. I keep the two strongest, best looking plants for myself as main plant and back-up. The rest are given away. A couple of local nurseries will take a bunch to sell. After the gardening season is well under way what is left over becomes compost.
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Post by september on Apr 9, 2018 8:46:00 GMT -5
I have a soft heart and nothing gets tossed. The poorer seedlings get transplanted to new quarters same as the good ones, usually they are just younger or smaller and need more time to catch up. Any I don't need are given away or heeled in close to the tree or swamp line. There the deer may do them in shortly, but it's not on my conscience at that point.
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Post by guruofgardens on Apr 9, 2018 9:20:11 GMT -5
Nothing gets trashed in the beginning as I have too many people wanting 'free' plants. If there are any left after everyone has planted, then they do get tossed. All that hard work for the trash can. Last year all of the peppers were planted, but I did trash a dozen or so tomato plants. I even planted 24+ broccoli plants as I was checking out different varieties.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Apr 9, 2018 9:24:16 GMT -5
I start one cell per plant I want for the garden, but I usually start 2-3 seeds per cell. I cull to the strongest seedling per cell. Or, if it's a variety that might not be stable, I keep the seedling that has the desired characteristics for that variety.
However, I don't pull the extra seedlings - I snip them off below the cotyledons. (I have a small pair of sharp, pointy-tip scissors that I allow me to snip only the seedlings I'm culling, without accidentally damaging the keepers.) I always worry about damaging the roots of the seedlings I want to keep if I pull the seedlings.
I wait to cull until I see how everything else is doing. For example, this year I had a few no-show and low germination pepper varieties, and one no-show tomato variety. So I teased apart the plants in some of the cells that contained 2-3 good-looking seedlings, and used the extras to replace the no-shows.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Apr 9, 2018 10:55:52 GMT -5
I do the math before I start potting up. I always over-sow. I figure out how many of each variety I want in my garden, and then I add one each of the more unique varieties of pepper and tomato because my brother often needs plants from me. Then I start potting up and I'm ruthless at the beginning. I know how many I want to keep and I stick to that for about... six or seven varieties. And then I decide I can save just a few more, and by the end, I'm being very careful with the culled seedlings because maybe they'll decide they want to grow in the compost pile. I always have too many plants growing for my own garden, but it always works out because friends or family memmbers end up having issues and needing replacements and I happen to have them.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 9, 2018 13:25:59 GMT -5
I've seen my methods in several posts here. It all depends on the plants. For most of them, I plant 2 seeds in a pot - sometimes more, if I knew them to be low germinating, or if fairly old (though this season, one of the oldest tomatoes I planted 4 in each pot, and every one came up, and was only the second one to appear, so you never know!), or if very small, and it's hard to get just 2. Once one of them appears stronger, I snip the weaker one. If I have any empty pots, I move them early - either one of the same variety, or, if none of those germinated, one of a favorite - so it won't have a lot of roots to damage, or damage the other plants roots.
Peppers I plant in the vermiculite strips - something I started back when I grew a lot more, and shared the plants, as well, and this was a way to waste a lot less, plus all could be started in one tray. I prepare labeled trays for the peppers, and move the sprouts to those as they appear. And after a few weeks, if there were any no-shows, or not enough of some germinated, leaving empty pots, I take sprouts from favorites, and place in the empty pots.
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Post by spike on Apr 9, 2018 13:29:22 GMT -5
Any seed that grows and thrives/lives for me gets planted. Either by me or those I share with.
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Post by octave1 on Apr 9, 2018 14:16:04 GMT -5
Just like Mother Nature herself, I follow the "survival of the fittest" rule.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Apr 9, 2018 17:14:16 GMT -5
I follow the musical chair rule. When the music stops, someone doesn’t have a seat.
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stone
Pro Member
Posts: 170
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Post by stone on Apr 9, 2018 17:27:02 GMT -5
Those plants separate easily... As long as you have turf, there's room for tomatoes.
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Post by spacecase0 on Apr 9, 2018 21:06:13 GMT -5
I plant one seed per cell, I grow everything that comes up. pulling weeds is hard for me.
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Post by ahntjudy on Apr 11, 2018 23:29:58 GMT -5
No...I'm a big ole softie... If it sprouts and grows for me, it has to get planted and get a chance to survive...
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