Seedlings

florenceq 1/30/2011, 7:25 pm

Most of my seedlings have now sprouted. When do I need to choose which plant will survive if more than one came up. It seems a shame to kill a perfectly good plant. Can I separate them into different squares? Or would that harm them? Here are photos:

Starting across the bottom is Red Cabbage, Brocoli, Caulifower, Cilantro
Then 4 squares of chard and 4 lettuce
The top four Spinach (only one came in) and Parsely

Two bottom are yellow pear tomatoes
Two top are Big Boy Bush Tomatoes

BackyardBirdGardner 1/30/2011, 7:33 pm

From what I understand, if you try and separate them, you risk damaging both because the roots could be intertwined. So, you snip the weak one. Don't think of it as killing a plant. Mother Nature makes sure that most seeds don't live anyway. You are actually doing them a favor....and you can never save them all. Just the way it is.

As for when to snip, look at your bottom photo. There are "seed leaves" and "true leaves." Your plant on the bottom right is getting a couple of true leaves. Those long, skinny, flat leaves are likely the seed leaves. You snip when the first true leaves show up.

If I am wrong, someone jump in and correct me. This is what I've read, so it isn't gospel.

miinva 1/30/2011, 8:11 pm

I hadn't thought about disturbing the roots, I was just squeamish about chopping off perfectly happy shoots. I'm going to try snipping this year and see if it makes a difference. Thank you for the explanation!

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Seedlings

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