[tomato] seedling transplant
Byron.Bromley (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Tue, 2 Mar 1999 18:39:33 -0500
In 3 of my seed cataloges, Johnny's, Stokes and Vesey's
they say to transplant as soon as the seed leaves are 3/8 in
long.
I tried some peppers and tomatoes in Jiffy 7's about 2 in deep.
Some varities will have a tap root into the netting before the first
true leaves are even formed, Removing netting or transplanting from 2 in
pots increases the chance of breaking the tap root. Once that's done
the plant might as well go to the compost pile.
A sweet orange cherry or Amish paste will have a 2 in tap root before
the seed leaves are standing upright.
Some varieties have a very fast root development, a simple test
is to plant into a 1qt clear plastic food service container, and watch
for roots, I have had a few plants that had surface roots 80% down
the side of the container before the plant was into the 3rd true leaf
stage.
Byron