First time doing seeds. I know the closer ones "shishitos" got leggy. I removed heat pad and got lights closer. But my question is when do I get rid of the double stems? I did 3 seeds per cell and almost all have two seedlings. When I remove can I transplant that into another cell or is it done for?
by luckyduckyyou
12 Comments
I recommend waiting until they have true leaves and then cutting the extras, not pulling them. Pulling them will disturb the roots too much for the plants you are keeping.
When I pot up (or transplant outside!), I attempted to split up, but they often don’t make it. If you have more than 2 in a cell I recommend using scissors to trim one off.
Agree that I wait for true leaves and I clip the ones I don’t want close to the soil.
You could also separate them and put each in their own cell.
I think general advice is to cut off doubles so you don’t disturb the root systems. That being said, I (gently) yoinked all of mine out and replanted them in empty cells. They’re all thriving. But I’m a super newbie so you probably shouldn’t take my advice…
I let them stay together and they thrive, they seem to enjoy some company.
I usually let them grow larger- nothing worse than getting rid of some before others are really established. And then, don’t pluck, snip so you don’t disturb baby roots
At least until they’re very well established, I try to keep about twice as many going as I think I want to plant. Some won’t make it to planting time, some won’t survive being transplanted.
I would wait. I don’t thin until I pot up
I typically grow peppers in pairs and they do just fine.
I cut the best looking one when they put out true leaves. Cut at base, do not pull and mess up the roots.
+1 for waiting until they get their first true leaves and you see how initial growth happens.
I thin as soon as it’s obvious which one is growing better (larger overall, thicker stem, bigger leaves or more new leaves, etc.). That said, cut them off at the dirt level, don’t pull them out. If you pull them out you’ll just massively disturb the roots of the remaining one.
I’m a Master Gardener with a large native and vegetable garden, I also teach horticulture. Good job lowering the light, it should be about the height of your thumb above the plants. You don’t want to pluck your extra seedlings, if you do, you’ll disturb the roots of the one next to it. Thin instead, which means snipping off the extra seedling at the soil line. Generally, you want to thin after the second set of true leaves, what you have now are cotyledons (seed leaves). True leaves look like the plant you’re going for, it will look like a pepper leaf. Wait until your seedlings are big enough to have two sets of true leaves. Then thin the least good looking seedling.