thinning seedlings?

[rosiegirl]

a new question! I've done some searching but can't find a question that's close enough to mine to help me.

I have a raised vegetable garden with a few plants that I bought and a few seeds that I put directly in teh soil.

miraculously, my seeds are turning into seedlings! but now I don't know what to do. I know I have to thin out the seedlings but I don't know how.

1. how do I pick which seedlings to eliminate (so sad!)? the smallest?

2. the first are squash (I have 3 mounds, each with 2 seedlings). how many do I want to keep? there are also cucumber and tomatoes in the 4x10 bed.

3. the second are cucumbers. I already have one plant in the bed and then 3 seedlings have sprouted. how many do I keep?

4. how do I actually do the thinning? just cut out the seedling with a pruner?

5. do I thin now or when there are true leaves? or another time?

here are photos of the seedlings:


squash
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4647676268_fd196d1079.jpg[/img]

cucumber
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4647060521_2d59089967.jpg[/img][/img]

[supagirl277]

Well If you are planning on having only one of those plants in one spot, then take out the smallest of each. Just pluck it up by it's top leaves, and if you want to transplant it somewhere else, then DON"T TOUCH THE LOWER STEM and replant it in another spot.

[jal_ut]

Let them all grow.

[lovegarden]

If you want to thin them, you should wait until they develop at least 2 true leaves or you can just let them grow like jal suggested, I would.

[rosiegirl]

I'd love to grow them all, but I'll end up with 6 summer squash plants and 6 cucumber plants in about a 4x6 area! probably too much, right?

there are also tomatoes in the same bed, taking up about a 4x4 area.

sadly, I don't really have a spot to transplant them to.


so I can just snip it at the stem low down?

[supagirl277]

If you really want to thin them, you pluck it straight out of the ground. You could just set it back on top of the groud next to it possible, cause it can turn into food or you just throw them away.

[garden5]

It sounds like you are good with your squash and zucchini. If you really want to thin, just pinch the weakest looking seedling at the stem and compost it. If you want to move the seedling, dig it up at the roots, being careful not to damage them.

You should thin them when they look like they are established and growing or when one is stronger-looking than the others.