need suggestions

[encore]

here are my tomato and pepper plants the pepper plants i started on march 20th the tomato plants on march 28th, took the heat mats away after most of the tomatos were through the ground, and i've had a fan blowing on them 5 times in 24 hours for 1/2 hour each time, do they look like they are progressing as they should be? and how much longer should i wait till i pot up the plants? thanks----tom

[Father'sDaughter]

There's nothing to reference size in your pictures, but from what I can see your peppers look about the same as mine which were started on March 23rd. They are slow growers compared to tomatoes. For two weeks, it looks to me that the tomatoes are on track.

If you haven't started feeding all of them yet, consider adding some diluted liquid fertilizer with at least ever-other watering.

I usually wait until the have at least two sets of true leaves before I up-pot.

[encore]

name tags are sticking up about 1 -1/2 inches

[Fred Hempel]

Pot up as soon as the plants pull out easily from the plug tray (with all roots and soil in an intact "ball")

[rxkeith]

plants look like they are ok. i sow several seeds per cell, and transplant to individual cups when first true leaves are of good size, and second set are growing. wait too long, and they will stall on you. you want enough root structure, so you don't have to worry about ripping roots off when transplanting. i have seen the owner of a greenhouse transplant peppers when they barely had their first set of true leaves. its all about expertise and comfort level. the smaller the plant, the more careful you have to be. i would wait until your plants get a little bigger before transplanting.



keith

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by rxkeith

plants look like they are ok. i sow several seeds per cell, and transplant to individual cups when first true leaves are of good size, and second set are growing. wait too long, and they will stall on you. you want enough root structure, so you don't have to worry about ripping roots off when transplanting. i have seen the owner of a greenhouse transplant peppers when they barely had their first set of true leaves. its all about expertise and comfort level. the smaller the plant, the more careful you have to be. i would wait until your plants get a little bigger before transplanting.



keith

+1- I agree with this.

[luigiwu]

Everything I learned is from Craig's dense-sowing series. Even if you do not dense-sow, its super duper informational!

[oakley]

Watch Craig's dense planting...don't have the link handy. I agree it is an eye opener just to see how careful study and paying attention can result in success even if you don't practice it yourself. Adopt a method that works for your situation. Make it personal.

They look right on schedule. And i agree it is your comfort and experience that plays a part. And temp. I see concrete block. My growing room is a steady 63-4 so i get some slow growing starts. Heat mat for some just sown seeds for a day. I turned on the central air last week to dry things out and get temps up to 68-ish and all starts took off.

I run my small fan 24-7 and just spin directions when i think of it. Air flow is so good for starts.

I don't feed at all until i see second set of leaves. Just clean water. For some reason i feel the seed itself is packed with 'food' for germination, then has time to seek out growing food in soil. It has time. (or i just read too much)

Cooler temps do seem to slow things down.

[twillis2252]

Link to Craig's website, good luck, and keep everyone posted!

http://www.craiglehoullier.com/resources/