When to transplant from Solo Cup

SvtCobra

SvtCobra

   When do most you transplant your peppers from a Solo Cup? My peppers now have their 4th 5th and 6th set of true leaves and are still in a Solo Cup. They are short only about 4 to 5 inches tall.
 
Sounds like me having a bunch growing early this year. lol.  They are probably okay for now. If you have just a few, I would pot them up at some point when they get bigger, but if you have 50 maybe not. Depends on your space/lighting/potting mix available. They will get severely root bound in solo cups, but will recover fine if you loosen up the roots really well at plant out. Maybe even prune the roots a little after loosening/breaking them apart.
 
IMO, there is no fixed transplant schedule.  I'd check the roots and go from there...
 
Let the soil dry to the edge of wilt. This will cause the roots/soil to contract and break free from the cup more readily.  
 
If the roots are starting to wrap up, and you have extra space, go ahead and find them bigger pots. Even something like a 1 qt pot will be a big upgrade.
 
Ideally, I like to pot them up before they get too root bound. I find that growing in clear plastic cups makes it really easy to monitor both their root development and soil moisture levels. Still, in the case of one of my Lemon Drop plants I waited until it was about a foot tall with a couple of peppers on it to pot up from its solo cup. Not ideal, but the plant turned out just fine. Just be sure to loosen the root ball really well when potting up a root bound plant, as Peter S already suggested.
 
Idk, i dont think i ever started any plants in red solo cups. I always went from the seedling greenhouses to 6 inch pots right away. Im very interested to learn more though as i plan to transition all my plants to 1 gallon pots here shortly.
 
  I don't think my plants are root bound yet. They look good root wise. But they seem to be suffering from a bit of Edema. I have the space and I for sure have the lighting. I am not giving them much water but they seem to not be drying out very fast. Gave them a good bit of nutrients and hoping it fixes my leaf curl and a bit of yellowing. Also under the LED's my plants are not lifting their leaves looking for light. I guess they have enough light so the leaves are just droopy.
 
Peter S said:
Sounds like me having a bunch growing early this year. lol.  They are probably okay for now. If you have just a few, I would pot them up at some point when they get bigger, but if you have 50 maybe not. Depends on your space/lighting/potting mix available. They will get severely root bound in solo cups, but will recover fine if you loosen up the roots really well at plant out. Maybe even prune the roots a little after loosening/breaking them apart.
Click to expand...
How are you loosening roots? Put it in water or just carefully take apart?
 
If they are big enough to plant out I just spread, pull and break them apart the best I can with my fingers. Seedlings require more delicacy if you're separating them and water helps with those.
 
Ideally, I like to pot them up before they get too root bound. I find that growing in clear plastic cups makes it really easy to monitor both their root development and soil moisture levels. Still, in the case of one of my Lemon Drop plants I waited until it was about a foot tall with a couple of peppers on it to pot up from its solo cup. Not ideal, but the plant turned out just fine. Just be sure to loosen the root ball really well when potting up a root bound plant, as Peter S already suggested.


^ this !
 
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