My seeds have come up, what do I do now?? Stage Two

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by: Growhouse
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Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 Time: 5:08 PM

When your seedlings are becoming crowded and the roots are starting to show through the bottom of the pot, tray or module they are ready to prick out. This is a ‘technical term’ used in horticulture and basically refers to the method of teasing the little plants apart carefully and planting them into separate modules or pots. Some gardeners also use seed trays.
Pricking out is a very delicate stage and great care must be taken not to damage these vulnerable plants. One of the biggest mistakes is crushing the delicate stems. Even a gentle pull on the stem can cause irreparable damage. That’s why most garden experts and books recommend that you handle little seedlings by their leaves. If you pull a leaf off the plant can usually recover and grow new ones, but if you damage the stems that’s it, the plant rarely recovers and often rots away.
So, if the plants are still really small and the leaves hardly enough to get hold off it’s better to wait a bit longer. Ideally you can tip out a potful of seedlings into your hand, without squashing them and separate them at the roots, splitting the bunch into smaller bunches of plants. Each of these can then be teased apart until you have lots of individual plants. You can save time by planting each of these young plants into a separate module, or if they are large enough into a small pot. The best way to pot them up is to fill the pot or module with clean potting compost, firm it down gently and then make a hole with a dibber so that you can gently drop the roots into the hole and fill in with more compost, all the time holding onto the leaf. Then water gently with slightly tepid tap water. Don’t fall into the trap of planting a tiny seedling into a large pot, it rarely works and the compost is more likely to turn sour and kill your plant. And make sure you use clean pots, fresh clean compost and that you label each plant. You might think that you will remember which one is which, but you probably wont. One of the biggest problems of pricking out and potting on is the sheer number of plants you end up with. One small pot of seedlings can contain hundreds of plants and if you pot each one of these up you will soon fill your greenhouse. Some plants can be potted up in small clumps, such as salad leaves, rocket, coriander, basil and other cut and come again herbs. While others such as tomatoes and perennials will need separate pots early on.
Keep your developing seedlings moist but not over watered with tap water and if light is restricted keep turning the pots to avoid leggy or lopsided plants. When the roots have filled the small pots and are starting to protrude at the bottom of the pot, it’s time to pot them up again.

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