When to re-pot

[DeanRIowa]

My seedling(tomatoes, peppers, basil, Pepino, and goji berries) are about 4 weeks old and 3" tall(leggy I know). They are planted in 72 cell flats(1 1/2" by 1 1/2" cells).

When should I re-pot them to larger containers?

thanks,

Dean

[Granny]

Originally Posted by DeanRIowa

My seedling(tomatoes, peppers, basil, Pepino, and goji berries) are about 4 weeks old and 3" tall(leggy I know). They are planted in 72 cell flats(1 1/2" by 1 1/2" cells).

When should I re-pot them to larger containers?

thanks,

Dean

Now is good. I pot them up to individual cells (72 per tray) in potting soil rather than a bunch in one cell of starting medium when they get their first set of true leaves. Then when they are ~3 high and the cell well filled with roots I pot them up into 4" pots or plastic cups. That is the last they get before they go into the garden. Note that peppers do not grow either as fast or as tall, so they often make it only into a 3 inch pot.

[DeanRIowa]

If they are leggy should I re-pot them a little deeper?

thanks,

Dean

[feldon30]

Tomatoes, I always put the root ball at the bottom of the largerpot and then fill with soil, picking off any leaves that would be buried. If the entire plant will be buried, then I add some soil first.

Peppers and most other seedlings do not like to have their stems buried.

[Granny]

Originally Posted by DeanRIowa

If they are leggy should I re-pot them a little deeper?

thanks,

Dean

I pot mine up very much like Feldon does, getting as much of the stem buried as I can, with just the first set of true leaves peeking out of the dirt.

[Earl]

Leggy? Some of mine are a foot tall. I make paper pots and after pulling the seedling away from the other seedlings I push the stems down into the paper pot in a spiral and pack the mix around the stem until only the top leaves are above the rim. Of course taking the lower leaves off. I'll give them a week or so to settle in then plant the whole paper pot. I also give them a shot of liquid rooting fertilizer. As long as they're disease free tomato plants are tough.

You can also snip/cut the seedling above the bottom true leaves and repot. A new main stem will grow. But the stem has to have leaves on it. You could also root the top of the seedling and have 2 plants.

[barkeater]

It's very easy to know when to repot a seedling or a plant. When roots start coming out the holes in the bottom, it's time to repot.