I sowed these seeds in what I call "milk jug flats" (bottoms of milk jug with holes punched through). Any way, my question is how do I go about thinning these out to individual pots? Should I just grab a clump of 3-4 seedlings and put in individual 2-in pots or 6 paks? This is one of my favorite fill-in flowers for containers so I don't want to harm my first attempt at sowing from seed. Thanks for your suggestions!
Brenda
(Sorry for the blurry pic)
Well gee, hardly any came up!
They are pretty rugged, transplant 'till your hearts' content, most will take to being moved into other pots of soil, etc.
langbr, you could try pricking them out with a pencil point. ( I have a cool little tool that I use for such things, got it from Pinetree Garden Seeds.) Hold the seedling gently by the leaf, never by the stem. A torn leaf won't kill the seedling, but a pinched stem will.
Good luck!
I've got a pretty good transplant tool (stole one of my DH electronic component tools) for this, but these things are so tightly packed together. I guess next year I'll really need to find a better way to sow these.
They look like too small to individual pots. You better wait until 2 or 3 true leaves come out. And before that, you need to thin.
How many portulaca do you need for your container? Please leave the required number of you plus a little extra. When you thin them, if you pull out a seedling, another seedlings about it will come out with it. So, you better to cut them by nipper or scissors. When the true leaves come out you can divide them. This is my way....I overthrow the pot slowly and pick up the seedling carefully from soil and replant them. In this way, you don't damage to their roots.
This message was edited Mar 9, 2004 12:36 PM
goldenfish.....many thanks for the advice. Yes, I wasn't planning to transplant just yet (but golly today they really shot up!). Guess I'll think them down using the snipping method you suggest....that's a good one I hadn't thought of even though my reading tells me that the way to go to prevent damage to the remaining ones. Brenda
It is so difficult for me to snip them. I always end up with more than I planned for 'cause I can't stand to waste them.lol.
I'm the same, can't throw a good growing plant away!
I start Lobelia from seed, they are smaller than portulaca, transplant whole clumps at a time, using toothpick and fingers. Have blue Lobelia growing everywhere.
