Re: [tomato] seedling transplant
margaret lauterbach (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Wed, 03 Mar 1999 07:32:44 -0700
At 06:39 PM 3/2/99 -0500, you wrote:
>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
>
Bending doesn't hurt roots, Byron. Margaret