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| I started some broccoli around March 6th and it is happily growing away. Because of the mistake I made in germinating them in a tray with peppers (newb mistake) I transplanted them up to 16 oz cups as soon as they germinated. They are all at the stage where the 2nd set of true leaves is starting to grow, the 1st set of leaves are huge!
Looking at the cups (used see-through plastic another newb mistake that will be fixed soon) you can tell that the whole cup has roots growing throughout it. I'm trying to decide if I should transplant them up to a bigger container as I won't be able to put them outside until at least 4/19 (we're having a garden put in so no chance of doing it sooner). Would it be best to do that or can they hang out in those cups for another 3 weeks? I was thinking about transplanting just the ones I was going to keep and leave the ones for give away in the cups since I planted twice as many cells as I needed (in addition to two seeds per cell.. newb written all over me yes and broccoli taking over my life). I figure that will save room under my lights. Thoughts? -T |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by sarahbarah27 5 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 31, 10 at 7:06
| In my opinion, you will probably be fine just leaving them where they are for now, until you can get them outside. I'm just thinking, when you buy transplants from garden centers they usually come in little 4 or 6 cell packs that are no bigger than your cups, and those plants always have a few sets leaves as well. Good luck |
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- Posted by oilpainter 3 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 31, 10 at 12:54
| Yes they will probably be all right for a few weeks. When you do put them out in the garden, be sure to separate the roots. They will be root bound and when plants get rootbound the roots go round and round in the bottom of the pot or get to be a tangled mess. The roots can't take up the nutrients it takes to grow and they don't do well. Plant them like that and they will stay like that and you'll end up with a stunted plant. A couple of light squeezes of the root ball--not in your fist but from side to side--and untangling the bottom roots is what you do. Don't worry if you break the odd root. It won't cause harm and the roots will spread out in the ground. I do this with plants that I buy or if they look root bound out of the greenhouse. Plants you buy are usually root bound. |
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| Thats great information, thanks.. I didn't think about untangling the roots last year when I bought my tomato plants.. I guess that could explain why they didn't grow that big (among other mistakes I made). I think I may pot up one of the broccoli plants just to see if it makes a big difference or not. But leaving the rest in the cups definitely will save space! -t |
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| Next year you may want to wait a bit longer before starting them. These are going to be quite old when they go to the garden. And when you pot-up don't go right from the starting cell to a 16 oz. cup. Just use a 4-5 oz cup instead. ;) Potting-up is normally done to a container only slightly larger than the one the plant is already in so save the 16 oz. ones for the big plants or final stage potting up. Dave |
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| I will look at starting later next year, although I also won't have to wait on the garden to be built before I plant, which will help. I was orginally going to plant them a week and a half sooner than I will be able to. Maybe I can just leave them in the starting cells longer next time since they are 2x2x2 cells.. (thats gotta be 4-5 oz right? I'll check tonight). The only reason I pulled them out early was not everything had germinated. On my second germinating go-round everything was tomatoes and they all germinated together which was great, no early transplanting needed. I'll be able to leave those in there for longer before I have to transplant them up which is good. Sigh - It's hard to be at work when I just want to be home playing with my plants :( -T |
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| I know what you mean. I felt that way 35 years ago, and truthfully, it's still just as fulfilling and even--yes, sometimes--exciting! Seeds bring out great thoughts about life and how the world goes round... I think that's one reason gardeners are often more mellow than some. With exceptions, of COURSE! Paula |
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