Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi if I have some seedlings that are enormous (relatively speaking) and some that are just popping through, is it best to wait til they all come though before potting on or can I just do the big ones and leave the rest on the windowsill in the bag?

thanks

janeyo

I guess it depends if you can remove the bigger ones safely without disturbing the little ones. I would tend to leave them until you have as many handleable sized ones as you need (and carefully thin out the rest)

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

I only sow one seed in each place, so don't need thinning out. For example, in a half size seed tray I normally only put up to 12 or so seeds. Needs a steady hand to do this but it means I can see which ones haven't taken. It must be easier to not disturb the wee ones.

janeyo

Unless growing very expensive F1 varieties, you would normally sow a few more seeds than you need and only pick the strongest seedlings. If the variety is non-F1, then there is likely to be more variation in germination times and it doesn't necessarily mean the later ones are weak, but it's still probably better to take the quickest and strongest.

What are you growing and how many plants do you actually need? Do you really need to wait for every seed to germinate?