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pics When should I put into pots (pics added)

koskorgul

koskorgul

I started about 16 plants a week or so ago in the little Jiffy peat pucks you can buy at walmart. 14 of them have sprouted and are touching the top of the container. When should I take them out and put them in regular pots?
I have the peat soil that helps promote root growth and also some miracle grow. The soil that I have has mircle grow already added to it so I am not going to use any extra at this point. Dont really have any lights that I can put on the plants either, so basically whatever light they get from inside the house is all till I can get them planted outside.

I started 4 earlier in the year they all sprouted, got about an inch tall and stayed that way for 2+ mths then died. I used regular potting soil at that time but have changed it to the root started soil.
Anyhow when should I take them out and pot them or should I just uncover them at this time?
 
First - get some lighting. Wait until you have 2 or 3 sets of true leaves to transplant into pots. Remove the dome once the seeds have sprouted and get them under lights.
 
I do have a heat/flood light that I could use. Will remove the dome tonight once i get home from work and get the heat lamp out.
Thanks for the advice, this is my first year growing from seedlings. trying to save up through the year to get a setup for next year. Getting one thing at a time, as I can afford it, so next year I will be all set.
Already have my garden/yard laid out where I am going to plant them, hopefully my landlord will let me make some raised beds this year.

On a side note, well sorta a side note.
I have an unheated basement, It isnt freezing cold but isnt warm like the rest of the house do you think that if I get a grow light like this
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hydrofarm-Fluorescent-Grow-Light-Fixture/17435030
that it would be enough to grow the plants?
Dont have alot of room upstairs for the plants. Actually have them on top of the freezer at the moment. Had them in the kitchen but it just seemed a little to cold for them there. As soon as I moved them they "took off"
 
I have the same condition: about 68 degree room in which to work with. I got a jump-start T5 lamp and a jiffy 72 seed starter, and went and spent $20 on the warming mat. the mat and the light made a huge difference. But I haven't seen much change in a week. I think the peat moss isn't designed to hold the nutrients, so I'm about to transplant them all into 3" peat pots with starting mix this coming weekend.

I have about 66 plants.
 
kosk. I imagine your seedlings are real tall and skinny with just the two cotyledons on top. That's because of the lack of light. You need to get the seedlings under lights. Not a heat lamp! That will cook them. You can use that light you posted but you can go even cheaper if you want. Walmart sells 2' "grow" lights for about $10. I've used those for years. You can put them about two inches above the seedlings. You need to get some air movement on them too or they're going to fall over and die. I imagine they will have a hard time standing up straight now, you may have to find some chopsticks or wooden skewers to support them for a while. I wouldn't use the MG soil either for seedlings. May be too much fert for such young plants. Use regular potting soil or similar medium. Fertilize at about one quarter rate until the get several true leaves. The cool temps will inhibit growth but they shouldn't stagnate and stop growing altogether.

Kalitarios peat moss is a decent medium but it's on the acidic side of the pH scale. That's going to slow down the uptake of any nutes, not stop them. You don't have to pot them up into a starting mix once they have a couple of true leaves, you can go with what ever you're going to grow them in now. A lot of folks use Pro Mix BX/HP. It's about the best out there.

Best of luck to both of you.
 
Thanks Patrick, Will have to run out and get the lights you said about.
I have some toothpicks that I can use in the men time to help them standup for now. Hopefully I can get all of this taken care of tonight
 
kosk, as for the the air movement you can use computer fans (CPU fans) depends on how many plants you have you can add more fans if necessary. Your will get thicker stems and make them more sturdy. You can also get a T8 2 bulb fixture from Walmart (lights of America) and about $15 get 2 "daylight" bulbs (6500k). Hope that helps.

Those lights Patrick mentioned are pretty good too. That was my first light and It worked for me. How much time do you have till plant out?

,Vegas
 
My guess it will be atleast another month to 2 months before I plant anything outside. I am thinking april/may depends on mother nature here in central pa.
Will have to look into the T8 fixture also.
 
koskorgul said:
My guess it will be atleast another month to 2 months before I plant anything outside. I am thinking april/may depends on mother nature here in central pa.
Will have to look into the T8 fixture also.
Click to expand...

I ask because if you're planning on keeping indoors for a good time, it's best to get a good light for your plants. Plants are gona need more light as they grow, and I'm thinking 2 of those $10 Walmart grow lights won't cut it.

,Vegas
 
So last night I moved the plants from the living room down into the basement. There is a heat vent in the duct work that I opened and whenever the heat comes on it blows right onto the seedlings. I took the lid off the Jiffy starter and have them out in the air. I also took a flood light and hung over top of them, it is about a foot to a foot and a half above them right now as I dont want to burn the seedlings. ( this is only a temp setup till I get the grow lights either today or this weekend)
When I moved them down there last night they were all leaning one direction, this morning when I checked they were all standing up straight.
I took some pics but cant figure out how to upload them so I can post.
I have the jiffy container with 16 pucks, 15 have sprouted, I also have another 9 in pots covered with seran wrap, one of those has sprouted and have another 14 seeds in a wet paper towel that have started to sprout. They will be going into pots here in teh next day or so. All in all if all of the seedlings make it I will have about 45 plants.
Not sure of the exact numbers here at work but they will be
8 carrib reb habs
14-18 Scorpion
8-10 ghost
2-4 7 pots
2-4 fatalli
I think there are one or 2 Brain Strain, Scotch Bonnet and a few others. Not sure exact numbers or types though
 
Sounds like progress. The seedlings that are now standing straight up are trying to reach the light. They will probably continue to get leggier. When it comes time to put them in larger pots you can bury most of the stem, that will provide more roots for the plant in the long run which is a good thing. The cheap Wally World lights work fine as long as you keep them close. I think I had 20 of them at one point, all on chains hanging from a PVC frame I built. Real cheap set up that worked well. Here's a pic of my old set up. The lights were raised for the photo. You need to keep these lights within 2-3 inches when the plants are starting out but can raise them a few inches once they get a few true leaves.

024800x600-1.jpg


If you need some advice on posting pics send me a PM and I'll explain it to you.
 
I am using jiffy pucks and as soon as the seeds start to hook, I peel off the netting, and transplant them into 18-20 ounce cups with holes poked in the bottom.
The roots get long quick, and will poke out of the puck looking for soil.
Then I put the cups under cheap 3 of those 2 bulb 4' shoplights...they do fine until time to harden them off outside.
Not ideal, but it works on a budget.

Also, the cheap shop light, the bulbs I have that the plants like the best are the "daylight" ones.
 
patrick said:
Sounds like progress. The seedlings that are now standing straight up are trying to reach the light. They will probably continue to get leggier. When it comes time to put them in larger pots you can bury most of the stem, that will provide more roots for the plant in the long run which is a good thing. The cheap Wally World lights work fine as long as you keep them close. I think I had 20 of them at one point, all on chains hanging from a PVC frame I built. Real cheap set up that worked well. Here's a pic of my old set up. The lights were raised for the photo. You need to keep these lights within 2-3 inches when the plants are starting out but can raise them a few inches once they get a few true leaves.



If you need some advice on posting pics send me a PM and I'll explain it to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am heading out to get some of the wally world lights tonight or this weekend.

DesertChris said:
I am using jiffy pucks and as soon as the seeds start to hook, I peel off the netting, and transplant them into 18-20 ounce cups with holes poked in the bottom.
The roots get long quick, and will poke out of the puck looking for soil.
Then I put the cups under cheap 3 of those 2 bulb 4' shoplights...they do fine until time to harden them off outside.
Not ideal, but it works on a budget.

Also, the cheap shop light, the bulbs I have that the plants like the best are the "daylight" ones.
Click to expand...

So you actually put them in soil before the seeds break ground?
I have about 14 scorpions that I have germinating in a napking right now, they just started to sprout and are going into containers either tonight or tomorrow, depends on how big they are inside the napkin
 
As soon as the hooks break the surface, I plant the whole puck, after I peel the paper off.
Lots of folks here start their seeds right in soil, and get just as good of results too.
Shoot, I three a ton of orange bell pepper seeds into some cheap generic potting soil, and they germinated too.
 
I had 4 that I started in potting soil, they germinated, grew about 2 inches tall, stayed that way for 2-3 mths and then slowly died.
 
Also, you can carefully bury part of the stems on those super tall leggy ones, and that might help em out with the falling over thing. and likely grow more roots too.
Someone here told me they transplant them almost all the way up to the cotyledons.

Oh, and those flourescent plant lights....I have 2 bulbs in my lights, and the seedlings don't like them as much as the daylight bulbs!
 
DesertChris said:
Also, you can carefully bury part of the stems on those super tall leggy ones, and that might help em out with the falling over thing. and likely grow more roots too.
Someone here told me they transplant them almost all the way up to the cotyledons.
Click to expand...
I have read that but from my understanding it was after they got a few leaves on them. I could be wrong and probably am
 
I don't think you need to wait, the stem can basically be a root or a stem at this point, later on it makes a difference.

I have a few "leggy" tomatillo seedlings that I am going to bury deeper this evening when I have time.
 
Looks like I am doing some planting tonight when I get home. Have a bunch of pots I have to dig out of the shed LOL
 
Here is a photo of how they look when I pull em from the germ tray

IMAG1515_zps41326435.jpg


Here is the same hook a couple hours later :)

IMAG1516_zpsdf0ceba3.jpg


If you are on a budget like me, and space under the lights is at a premium, use 18-20 ounce plastic or styrofoam cups with holes poked in the bottom....you can get them at the dollar store too. They can live in those for a while before you have to use something bigger.
 
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