Seedling directly into their final home

January 29, 2015

Okay, let me preface this with I am in South Florida, so I can put plants out at anytime...

I've started some seeds, and the seedlings have 2-3 sets of true leaves. I've been hardening them off/setting them out in the sun for a couple weeks now. These particular plants will be going into 3 gallon SWC's. I was going to first transplant them into Solo cups, and let them grow a bit more, when I thought...why?

Is there any reason why I shouldn't transplant the seedlings directly into their final home/container. The only thing I can think of would be good hard rain might play havoc with the young plants, but I think I can pretty much protect them from that.

Thanks for any input...

Mike

Labradors2 · January 29, 2015

I think the reason why people pot up tomatoes into larger and larger containers is so that they will develop fibrous roots rather than a long tap root. The fibrous roots are supposed to be better.

However, if I lived in FL, I probably wouldn't bother. I've had volunteer seedlings sprouting in my veggie garden in VT which have thrived to maturity just fine.

Linda

kath · January 29, 2015

I would think the sooner they're in their final home, the better- especially since you've got warm soil & temps. One year when I lost most of my May planting to frost, I restarted seedlings in June in 72 cell trays but they lived outdoors in the sun from the time they germinated and they were planted out by ~ 4 wks. & they were happy & healthy. Another year I direct seeded Rutgers seeds outdoors in June here when an available area in the garden made me decide to try to can some tomatoes that season- got great plants and an abundant crop well before frost this way.

kath

January 29, 2015	#1
MikeBiondo Guest Posts: n/a	Seedling directly into their final home Okay, let me preface this with I am in South Florida, so I can put plants out at anytime... I've started some seeds, and the seedlings have 2-3 sets of true leaves. I've been hardening them off/setting them out in the sun for a couple weeks now. These particular plants will be going into 3 gallon SWC's. I was going to first transplant them into Solo cups, and let them grow a bit more, when I thought...why? Is there any reason why I shouldn't transplant the seedlings directly into their final home/container. The only thing I can think of would be good hard rain might play havoc with the young plants, but I think I can pretty much protect them from that. Thanks for any input... Mike

January 29, 2015	#2
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,894	I think the reason why people pot up tomatoes into larger and larger containers is so that they will develop fibrous roots rather than a long tap root. The fibrous roots are supposed to be better. However, if I lived in FL, I probably wouldn't bother. I've had volunteer seedlings sprouting in my veggie garden in VT which have thrived to maturity just fine. Linda

January 29, 2015	#3
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I would think the sooner they're in their final home, the better- especially since you've got warm soil & temps. One year when I lost most of my May planting to frost, I restarted seedlings in June in 72 cell trays but they lived outdoors in the sun from the time they germinated and they were planted out by ~ 4 wks. & they were happy & healthy. Another year I direct seeded Rutgers seeds outdoors in June here when an available area in the garden made me decide to try to can some tomatoes that season- got great plants and an abundant crop well before frost this way. kath