Opinion: what to pot seedling up into? - Page 2

Ruth_10 · April 7, 2012

When I lived in Michigan I potted up into 16 oz. plastic cups that I had saved and re-used them many times (they were interesting to "read" after a few years--my very own history of the tomato varieties I'd grown!). Here in Missouri I don't need to get as big a head start on the season and so instead pot up to six or eight ounce yogurt containers. Re-use those, too. I use my own homemade potting up mix.

Sometimes I wash them out with a dilute bleach solution after use, other times not--it hasn't seemed to have made any difference so far, but certainly if you have disease problems, a bleach rinse is a good idea.

Firefyter-emt · April 7, 2012

One really great tip if you can find someone who makes the "coffee run", is to score those cardboard trays that McJunk food places the cups into. By using those and the Styrofoam cup method, you have a nice tray to hold 4 cups nice and secure. (Plus, if you require, you can get that warm fuzzy save the planet feeling by re-using them) :-)

I have about a dozen of them now that I have had friends keeping for me and they work great! I have a good selection of pots left here from the prior owner, so I will have plenty for my stuff, but the ones that are given away will go into the cups. A nice side advantage, is that I can stick two cups in the rear seat arm-rest of my company car! (For on the road shared plants)

babice · April 9, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firefyter-emt

One really great tip if you can find someone who makes the "coffee run", is to score those cardboard trays that McJunk food places the cups into. By using those and the Styrofoam cup method, you have a nice tray to hold 4 cups nice and secure. (Plus, if you require, you can get that warm fuzzy save the planet feeling by re-using them)...

Firefyter - your idea came to me this morning when I was at that Bucks place on my "coffee run". They have those nice trays. I will have to see if they can maybe give me leftovers or something.

Also - my DH is a wine-club fanatic so he gets all these shipments of wine (yay for me!

) - they usually come packaged with these long, carbboard-type or styrofoam things that look like they might be useful for this purpose. Will make me feel better if I reuse them for this purpose.

The jury's still out for me on soil mixture to use for this potting purpose. I had some EV Hybrid's that I potted up Friday night using MG soiless seed-starting mix...they seem to be doing fine so far. However, I added some of that to the top of already potted toms because they looked like they could use more soil -- 6 out of about 14 ended up with yellow spots on their leaves next day. Coincidence? I dunno.

I was thinking I would use that mix now just for my flowers and herbs but even with those now I'm thinking I should just find a brand I feel I can trust and use it for everything.

dice · April 16, 2012

All good brands:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...t=22172&page=2

Typically, none of these are HD/Lowe's/Ace type products. Once
in a while you find them at places like that, but they are more
typically found at nurseries, nursery and greenhouse supply
outfits, occasionally farm supply stores that carry a lot of different
stuff, etc.

Hydroponics stores may have them, too. Typically they have these
products, also very fine:
http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils2.html
http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils1.html

(You probably do not need to add other fertilizer to seedlings in
the FoxFarm products until transplanting into the garden.)

celerystalksmidnite · April 16, 2012

babice, I'm no expert, but I always switch to the regular MG potting soil when I pot up and usually don't have any problems with it. I tried the seed starting mix for potting up once and it didn't work very well for me, possibly because it was hard for me to get the water ratio down. With my MG potting soil, I like to let it ALMOST dry out before watering, which might mean several days between waterings, depending on the container size and the outside weather. Minimizing watering seems to help prevent disease. The longer I grow tomatoes, the more comfortable I am withholding water, the healthier my seedlings seem to be at planting time. Of course, I do run the risk of the occasional plant getting too dry. Growing tomatoes from seed to garden is more like cooking than baking, for me anyway. It's a feel you develop over time. In any case, I hope you were able to save your babies.

celerystalksmidnite · April 16, 2012

PS I have bad luck with the Moisture Control Miracle Grow. It stays too moist and seems to promote disease when they are at the seedling stage.

babice · April 17, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by celerystalksmidnite

babice, I'm no expert, but I always switch to the regular MG potting soil when I pot up and usually don't have any problems with it...

Hi! Thanks for the feedback. So - you're saying I might not have had trouble if I would have used the MG potting soil versus the MG seed-starting mix? The 6 toms that initially came down with the yellow spots are still growing and seem to be healthy but they still have the yellow spots. Amideutch helped me out with good advice on those...first I gave them a shot of fish emulsion and the next night I gave them a spray of aspirin water. Now I'm letting them just keep growing even though the coloration's not changing. Don't know what caused that still - they do look healthy, though, other than the yellow spots.

However - now there is a different one that definetly looks like it's a gonner. Started noticing the leaves wilting and turning under a few days back - purple vein coloration. I moved him and put him far away from the others because he doesn't look so good. I do see some purple vein coloration on a couple others...

sigh...I feel like quite the failure at this seed-starting thing. I truly do let them dry out between waterings. Maybe I actually don't water them enough. I gave them all a shot of Buddha Grow last week. Other than that I keep fans going most of the time and the T5 light on at least 12 hours a day...sometimes more.

celerystalksmidnite · April 17, 2012

Sometimes purple vein can mean too much exposure to cold. Could that be an issue?

I'm glad you're getting help with the situation. I am going to follow Ami's actinovate advice on my next planting.

I don't have a lot of experience rehabilitating seedlings. I've gotten to the point that if a seedling shows signs of stress or disease, I usually throw it in the garbage can. I feel awful doing it and sometimes I procrastinate, but it always winds up feeling like the safest course for the other plants. Now if many or all of them are sick, I don't do that. I try to gently start the hardening off process and get them into the sun as fast as possible. Really, that's my whole strategy with seedlings. Get them up and get them out as soon as possible. With a VERY gradual transition.

celerystalksmidnite · April 17, 2012

Also, this might sound really crazy, but try talking to them. Tell them that they are strong and that they will make it. Tell yourself that, too. Studies have shown positive thinking improves plant growth. =D

Most of all, don't be too hard on yourself. Learning to grow from seed is a process. I doubt if many of us had total success right out of the gate.

coloken · April 17, 2012

Just my 2 cants and I agree with every body
Moisture control potting mix NO.
MG potting mix OK.
I like the red 16 oz plastic cups from the dollar store, they do fall over, but what i really like is the
32 oz cup that i get with yogurt. I am going to see if I can buy like them. Taller cups help me with burying the plants deeper.

April 7, 2012	#16
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	When I lived in Michigan I potted up into 16 oz. plastic cups that I had saved and re-used them many times (they were interesting to "read" after a few years--my very own history of the tomato varieties I'd grown!). Here in Missouri I don't need to get as big a head start on the season and so instead pot up to six or eight ounce yogurt containers. Re-use those, too. I use my own homemade potting up mix. Sometimes I wash them out with a dilute bleach solution after use, other times not--it hasn't seemed to have made any difference so far, but certainly if you have disease problems, a bleach rinse is a good idea. __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

April 16, 2012	#19
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	All good brands: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...t=22172&page=2 Typically, none of these are HD/Lowe's/Ace type products. Once in a while you find them at places like that, but they are more typically found at nurseries, nursery and greenhouse supply outfits, occasionally farm supply stores that carry a lot of different stuff, etc. Hydroponics stores may have them, too. Typically they have these products, also very fine: http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils2.html http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_soils1.html (You probably do not need to add other fertilizer to seedlings in the FoxFarm products until transplanting into the garden.) __________________ -- alias

April 16, 2012	#20
celerystalksmidnite Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: SE Texas Zone 8 Posts: 101	babice, I'm no expert, but I always switch to the regular MG potting soil when I pot up and usually don't have any problems with it. I tried the seed starting mix for potting up once and it didn't work very well for me, possibly because it was hard for me to get the water ratio down. With my MG potting soil, I like to let it ALMOST dry out before watering, which might mean several days between waterings, depending on the container size and the outside weather. Minimizing watering seems to help prevent disease. The longer I grow tomatoes, the more comfortable I am withholding water, the healthier my seedlings seem to be at planting time. Of course, I do run the risk of the occasional plant getting too dry. Growing tomatoes from seed to garden is more like cooking than baking, for me anyway. It's a feel you develop over time. In any case, I hope you were able to save your babies. __________________ MCB

April 16, 2012	#21
celerystalksmidnite Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: SE Texas Zone 8 Posts: 101	PS I have bad luck with the Moisture Control Miracle Grow. It stays too moist and seems to promote disease when they are at the seedling stage. __________________ MCB

April 17, 2012	#23
celerystalksmidnite Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: SE Texas Zone 8 Posts: 101	Sometimes purple vein can mean too much exposure to cold. Could that be an issue? I'm glad you're getting help with the situation. I am going to follow Ami's actinovate advice on my next planting. I don't have a lot of experience rehabilitating seedlings. I've gotten to the point that if a seedling shows signs of stress or disease, I usually throw it in the garbage can. I feel awful doing it and sometimes I procrastinate, but it always winds up feeling like the safest course for the other plants. Now if many or all of them are sick, I don't do that. I try to gently start the hardening off process and get them into the sun as fast as possible. Really, that's my whole strategy with seedlings. Get them up and get them out as soon as possible. With a VERY gradual transition. __________________ MCB

April 7, 2012	#17
Firefyter-emt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: NE connecticut Posts: 47	One really great tip if you can find someone who makes the "coffee run", is to score those cardboard trays that McJunk food places the cups into. By using those and the Styrofoam cup method, you have a nice tray to hold 4 cups nice and secure. (Plus, if you require, you can get that warm fuzzy save the planet feeling by re-using them) :-) I have about a dozen of them now that I have had friends keeping for me and they work great! I have a good selection of pots left here from the prior owner, so I will have plenty for my stuff, but the ones that are given away will go into the cups. A nice side advantage, is that I can stick two cups in the rear seat arm-rest of my company car! (For on the road shared plants)

April 17, 2012	#25
coloken Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NE Co Posts: 303	Just my 2 cants and I agree with every body Moisture control potting mix NO. MG potting mix OK. I like the red 16 oz plastic cups from the dollar store, they do fall over, but what i really like is the 32 oz cup that i get with yogurt. I am going to see if I can buy like them. Taller cups help me with burying the plants deeper.