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wreckitriz

Transferring and thinning seedlings from peat pellets

wreckitriz
11 years ago

Hi all! I am new to gardening and this forum has been a wealth of knowledge. I am hoping y'all can help me out.

I made the error of using peat pellets (72 count) and planting 12 different varieties in it (6 pellets per species).

My cucumbers have popped up and have a little leaf on them and my basil has little green sprouts going too.

I planted 3-4 seeds per pellet. With the herbs with tiny seeds, I put a pinch of seed in each pellet. :: I am thinking this was a huge mistake.

Anyhow, I moved the cucumbers and basil out and left the others in the dome to germinate. When I moved the cucumbers, I split the seedlings up because they were in clusters. I planted them in a 4 inch pot with jiffy seed starting mix. I was gentle and tried very hard to not smush or touch the roots. But they are very delicate and I wasn't as graceful as I had hoped to be.

Should I be doing it this way? Is the way I'm going about this terrible? Any advice on how to make this go more smoothly? Should I leave the clusters in the peat pellet when transferring to a 4 inch pot and then thin the clusters when they are bigger and closer to transplanting into my garden? Should I only plant 1 seed per pellet?

I am not going to use pellets again after this batch. I think I will use a 4 inch pot or plastic cup for germination so I don't have to deal with this mess again and not have to transfer until it's time to transplant into the garden. When I am using the pot/cup for germination, how do I keep the humidity level up? I was thinking of putting the cups in a plastic bag, on top of my fridge for the first days of germination and then remove the cups and put them under my grow light after I start seeing green.

Thanks!

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