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Petunia seedlings3/27/2023 This petunia seedling made the trip while I held it by the leaf. Once in a while, the root ball was substantial enough that it made the most sense to just hold it in my hand or on the stick. Holding a seedling by a strong leaf is generally the most reliable way to transfer it safely to it’s new pot, but sometimes there is enough soil clinging to the roots that the root ball needs to be held so it doesn’t break the stem. This works best if the soil is not too moist OR too dry, so I try to water my trays a few hours before transplanting. There is no tool as precisely sensitive as a bare fingertip.Īfter thinning, the 4 cell section looked like this: the same 4 cells of petunias thinned and ready for one to be transplantedĪs usual, a popsicle stick is just the thing for lifting the seedling out of the soil. Bare fingers worked best for teasing the plants apart and delicately grasping the stems. The leaves on top are obvious enough, but the baby stems are like translucent lime-green pieces of hair. I found it useful to wear my reading glasses and make sure I had good lighting. As I got closer to the plant I was saving, I had to be more careful of this, so it didn’t accidentally come up with the others. The petunia seedlings were so delicate that they tended to come out by the roots as I was pinching them. Here is half of the petunia flat as it looked before I began thinning: crowded petunia seedlings close-up of petunias just before I thin them If I did the thinning first, I could get a better idea of this. The less any roots are disturbed, the less of a set back for the plant.Įxamination of the trays led me think that some of the more spaced seedlings could be lifted out and transplanted to new homes. Of course, some of the petunia seedlings were so close that pinching away some plants so that one plant had a decent chance of growth was the only good option. I just couldn’t simply thin them in the traditional sense. (see far left in top photo, which are salpiglossis and phlox seedlings) I am still happy with that decision, as I won’t have to transplant them all, like I will for the flowers that are in an open tray. The little seedlings all looked so healthy, full of potential! I had planted them in cells in trays because I was going to try to avoid unnecessary transplanting time. But when the seeds are so little (petunia seeds) that they are hard to see even with reading glasses, picking up and planting just a couple per cell pot is challenging. I try to use methods of planting that will yield conservative numbers of unnecessary seedlings.
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