|
| I have some pepper seeds I started in a seed starter, and later moved to peat pots. I have thinned them down to two seedlings per pot. I'm wondering if I should leave both seedlings growing together, or thin them more so I only have one seedling per pot. Any advice? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| How big the peat pot is in diameter. You can always separate them , planting each in a pot of its own. If your peat pot is about 5" or bigger you can keep them together until plant out time. In zone 7B, probably your are about 2 to 3 weeks away from your LFD. If that is the case, I won't repot them. UNLESS you are going to grow them in pots and right now you have enough room inside. In that case I will plant them in their final pot. |
|
- Posted by Maynard1980 7a (My Page) on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 20:50
| They're actually small square pots, about 2 inches wide. I'm planning on planting them outdoors in probably about a month. I'm just wondering if I can leave them together and have them grow as double peppers, or if that will stunt their growth and I might be better off just pulling one out. |
|
| I suggest that you snip one off at ground level in order that one pepper can grow alone. Unless they are extremely small and just planted, I wouldn't try to separate them. |
|
| In my experience, depending on how much root damage they would sustain, separating is rarely a death knell for seedlings. If the roots are so bound and entangled that a good portion of them would be ripped apart from the plant, they may die (depending on the plant of course. I.e. onions and tomatoes can be pretty much separated by a bear cub and repotted then laugh at the encounter). If the roots separate fairly easily, a little ripping and tugging wont hurt a bit. I just separated 3 week old peppers and put them in their individual pots yesterday. I only make a half hearted attempt at being gentile, so there was some popping and snapping as I pretend to care that 5-10 little roots were collateral damage. They all wilted for several hours and perked right back up to normal. I only thin seedlings when I'm feeling lazy or don't have room to grow them. |
This post was edited by ZachS on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 21:12
|
- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 21:48
| I find that it is easiest to separate seedlings when you dunk their rootballs into a large bucket of water. Tease the soil apart, shake them around a bit, and then tease the root systems apart. The downside of this is that they are more likely to suffer transplant shock, so be very careful to protect them from direct sun and wind during the first few days after transplanting. |
|
| Agree with everybody above. I've tried doing what you want to do as far as planting real close together. Some people say this is ok, but I found better production when I gave each plant the proper spacing. Either do what slimy or zach suggests or snip one like rhizo suggests. In either case, I would get them out of those 2" peat containers and into some 3" or 4" containers. Peat pots suck past germination and a month is a long ways away. Kevin |
|
- Posted by AiliDeSpain 6a - Utah (My Page) on Wed, Mar 19, 14 at 20:29
| Thin them to one per 4 inch pot, cut it at soil level. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Vegetable Gardening Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
