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seeds Repotting seedlings question

wbyrd01

wbyrd01

When I repot my seedlings should I make the hole they're going in to deep enough for the roots to be stretched out and then pack the dirt up around them, or can they just be bunched up in to say a 1-2 inch hole? Or does it even matter?

Thanks.
 
I'd be interested to hear what the more experienced grower recommend, but when I put my seedlings into pots I made the hole deep enough to let the roots elongate. They seem to have done fine with that.
 
How big are they when you are repotting them? If they are 5-6 true leaves into growth I have been shaking off some of the dirt and spreading the rootball out over the soil in the new pot.
 
I use the jiffy pellets in order to just place the pellet into the new pot so you do not disturb the roots at all (just remove the mesh around the pellet and plant the pellet in the new soil.) Figure best to not disturb the roots if you do not have to - If you do have to remove them from the germinating soil then try not to disturb the roots since the seedling have very fine roots that break off easily but I do not think it will matter if you stretch them out or ball them up as they will grow out in all directions once transplanted anyway so just do it whichever way you can that does not disturb the roots.
 
Dig around in the new pot, soil to break it up good, or in the bag or a bucket before adding to the new pot.

Water it so it settles a little.

Dig a hole at least 1" deeper than the plant seems to need and at least 2" larger diameter, to account for settling of soil later and caving of the side walls while setting the plant in.

Get plant out of old pot, stick your finger up into the bottom of its soil and pull sideways gently to expand the roots a little. Don't overdo it.

Place in new pot hole, sprinkle on more or scoot nearer the soil till it reaches a uniform flat layer.

Water in that and soil will settle a bit more. Top off soil again to reach a flat surface.
 
I use my hand to tease out the rootball so they are not just running in circles. Then, I dig a hole a bit bigger than the roots, stick it in and fill in the gaps. You wanna make sure that you pack it down nicely so there is no big gaps or air pockets. Then water it in.

Here is a quick video of my method. Just scroll past what you don't need.

http://youtu.be/rNqx3oorv9Y
 
I just take everything I can get out of the smaller pot all at once....

I put a layer of new dirt in the bottom of the new pot, mist it lightly, set the plant, dirt and all from old pot in the center and then fill in with new dirt around the plant and sprinkle a bit of 3-4-4 fertilizer in layers and then water everything good.... Haven't had any issues yet....
 
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