Help with Transplanting Seedlings

OK, new at this game. Started tomatoe, pepper, cukes, etc from seed. The seedlings have grown in the second set of leaves under grow lights. Now I need to transplant the seedlings into something larger to help establish good roots.

Can I use just plain ol' potting soil or should I use the soilless mixture or is there some other medium recommended? And into what do I transplant...peat pots, styrofoam cups? What do you "pros" do?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

TX,
Carol

I use the clear plastic "solo" cups. You can get them in different sizes for different sized plants, and you can watch the root development. The only drawback is that it is kind of difficult to get drainage holes in them. I have used a nail (painful - one at a time and not very effective), a drill (fine for the sturdier cups) and a grinding attachment of a dremel (great, but not everyone has one). I have also heard a heated nail works well but you should do it in a very well ventilated area because it stinks.

I used the 9oz cups for smaller plants and the 16oz cups for the bigger ones. And I just use Miracle Grow potting soil.

Man...I guess I was frettin' for nothin'. I also didn't want to spend a fortune on supplies if I could get by with cheaper stuff. The cups sound like a great idea. I can see where you'd have a problem with punching in drainage holds. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

And you use just plain ol' potting soil, huh? No added vericulite or anything like that? Guess what I'm doing this weekend?????

Same thing I've been doing the last two? *snicker* Have fun!

Just checking to be sure that by "potting soil" you actually mean a soil-less mix (one of the peat or coir based products). I don't generally add extra perlite for seedlings, but I do lighten the mix a little for seed starting trays and sometimes for cuttings. I also add some polymer moisture crystals to my potting mix (pay attention to the directions -- a little goes a long way, and too much will make your seedlings heave right out of the pot when the crystals expand with water), and for most plants (not tomato seedlings, as I follow Carolyn's recommendation there) I also add some time-release fertilizer (like Osmocote).

I use a metal kebab skewer heated on the stove to poke holes in a whole stack of cups at once... just be sure you have good ventilation (I run the exhaust fan over the stove, which vents to the outside) so you're not breathing the fumes from melting plastic. And as soon as you've run the skewer through a stack, go through and separate the cups a little, one at a time... sometimes the little melted bits of plastic will try to "glue" your cups together as they cool.

I've also heard of people using an old soldering iron for this purpose. Melting the holes makes it easy, and there's less chance of cracking the plastic.

I use the same potting mix as a local nursery. It's loaded with peat moss, sterofoam, and compost, its really light and fluffy. One bag goes a long way.....

I use the left over soil (which also has vermiculite) into my soil in the garden. Figure its worth it serves to purposes :)