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media To those of you using jiffy pellets....

ThePhill

ThePhill

How long do you wait before transplanting to a new home? I have several seedlings doing well, working on their 3rd set of leaves, and are showing a nice root system. I will be moving them to 18oz cups then the next step will probably be into the ground. My main worry at this point is that the root system on some of the larger plants is growing well through the netting on the pellets and I am afraid that I will damage the roots if I attempt to remove the netting before transplanting. Any thoughts? I'll get some pics up soon.

Phill B.
 
You could just carefully cut the netting at various points to help the roots escape. Removal may do more harm than good at this point.

The netting will not decompose very quickly... I still see bits of netting in my compost pile from last year's seedlings. Once the plants are large enough it shouldn't hamper their growth.
 
I Transplant as soon as i see Roots coming out of the Jiffy, by the time I see them I try to remove the netting if possible if not just cut some of it so the roots can come out after you transplant them
 
Plants seem plenty healthy to me, a little leaf curl here and there, here are some of the bigger plants. I'll be potting all of them up soon, 22 plants total.

Left- Red Savina Habs. Right- 7 Pot Jonahs

DSCN2101.jpg


Possible Trinidad Scorpion Green JR-Mata Frade Cross

DSCN2105.jpg


Red Savina roots

DSCN2104.jpg
 
They should be okay with the netting on. If you are going to take netting off. Do it when they are very
small and the roots have not penetrated thru the netting. As far as transplanting, you can do it anytime.
They look good. I think it's time for transplanting.
Here is the stage I normally transplant at.

DSCN0420.jpg
 
roper2008 said:
They should be okay with the netting on. If you are going to take netting off. Do it when they are very
small and the roots have not penetrated thru the netting. As far as transplanting, you can do it anytime.
They look good. I think it's time for transplanting.
Here is the stage I normally transplant at.

DSCN0420.jpg
Click to expand...


+1

I transplanted as soon as I saw roots, and removed netting (carefully.)

P1010058.jpg
 
So should I even bother trying to removing the netting on the larger plants? Might at leads try and split open the bottoms and maybe a side or two.
 
I Say keep the netting to be on the safe side, it will eventually degrade and the root ball will be big but with time it will pay off
 
I have been transplanting them as soon as they are 1 to 1 1/2 inches tall, working toward the second set of leaves. I found that the pellets dry out too quickly, and it's hard to keep the top moist. I have 17 seedlings lined up for transplant tomorrow, and will be potting up to Solo cups with holes drilled/cut in the bottom. Already have 52 done, and most are loving their new homes out of the pellets!
 
That netting never seems to break down as fast as one might like, but i have yet to have it inhibit growth of many seedlings.
Your plants look ready to pop into pots ( they look great)..
 
I personally remove the netting. If it has lots of roots like yours do I'd cut a slit up the net in several places..better to sacrifice a few roots than to have the plant unable to grow properly.
 
The roots on my tomatoes looked almost exactly the same as the Red Savine, I pulled the netting off of those, lost what seemed like a ton of roots, and they are growing like crazy in the 18oz cups so I really don't know. I would think that the plants would be plenty strong enough at this stage to survive it but I just want to make sure.
 
+1 to cutting the net in several places. I always transplant one they have their first set of true leaves and remove the netting. I personally would still carefully remove whatever I could even if I lost a root or two.
 
I read somewhere once, years ago, and regarding a different plant, that for every root one cuts, two grow out of the wound.

I know this happens when you prune a pepper plant up top, (check out PaulG's grow log)... But it would make sense that the roots worked in a similar way as well.

Would be an interesting experiment for a hydro grower to try...
 
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