peppers up

Petronius_II · February 16, 2012

Another tactic that some gardeners swear by, is to separate densely planted seedlings into groups of two, and then keep each pair together and put them both in the same planting hole.

The claimed results are, earlier fruiting because of less transplant shock, and even though neither one will produce as much as they would if spaced farther apart than, well, almost touching, they still will produce more than one plant alone in one planting hole would.

...All of which sounds plausible to me. My experience with transplant shock is mostly of the negative kind, i.e. I have a pretty good idea what doesn't work. With peppers, if separating seedlings, I try to concentrate on patience, patience, and slowly deftly ease, ease, eeeeease those little roots apart, then plop them promptamundo into a well-prepared planting hole and water in immediately, preferably with a little vitamin B1 solution added. Emphasis here is on deftness, patience, and especially intuitive thinking, which helps make the deftness and patience possible. Call upon your inner George Washington Carver, and think like a plant.

If I get impatient and too rashly tear roots apart, I can see significant transplant shock. More often than not, this makes only a little difference with tomatoes. With peppers, it can set you back a week or two, easily.

February 16, 2012	#16
Petronius_II Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM - Zone 7a Posts: 209	Another tactic that some gardeners swear by, is to separate densely planted seedlings into groups of two, and then keep each pair together and put them both in the same planting hole. The claimed results are, earlier fruiting because of less transplant shock, and even though neither one will produce as much as they would if spaced farther apart than, well, almost touching, they still will produce more than one plant alone in one planting hole would. ...All of which sounds plausible to me. My experience with transplant shock is mostly of the negative kind, i.e. I have a pretty good idea what doesn't work. With peppers, if separating seedlings, I try to concentrate on patience, patience, and slowly deftly ease, ease, eeeeease those little roots apart, then plop them promptamundo into a well-prepared planting hole and water in immediately, preferably with a little vitamin B1 solution added. Emphasis here is on deftness, patience, and especially intuitive thinking, which helps make the deftness and patience possible. Call upon your inner George Washington Carver, and think like a plant. If I get impatient and too rashly tear roots apart, I can see significant transplant shock. More often than not, this makes only a little difference with tomatoes. With peppers, it can set you back a week or two, easily.