Up Potting lettuce seedlings?

[cgantt]

I jumped the gun and planted my lettuce seedlings in a tray instead of waiting on my 2.5" pots to arrive. So now they have gotten a little leggy and I tried transplanting a few to some 2.5 " pots and it did not go well. I kept crushing the stems and am thinking at this point I should just start over. Can anyone lend some advice on transplanting these to larger pots? Here is a photo of the planted tray box.

[img]https://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/lettuce-germination1.jpg[/img]

[soil]

there's nothing wrong with starting lettuce in a big tray like that and dividing up come planting time, the problem with yours is you let them get WAY to leggy and stretched.

[cgantt]

I know I let them get a little leggy but in my defense they literally jumped up like that overnight. I woke up one morning and they were already 2-3" tall.

Will deep planting them save them or should I just start over?

[applestar]

I'm afraid these are too spindly. They look like alfalfa sprouts.
I believe lettuce is one of those that need sun/good strong light to germinate well. They can be surface sown, barely covered or not covered but pushed into the soil (I like sprinking a single grain layer of white sand over them) and kept no more than 4" below a fluorescent tube. 2" if you have the T-12's.

Also, I plant 3 or 4 seeds about 1/4" apart and separated by probably a little less than 1".

Depending on where you live, lettuce could be sown directly outside already. I do start head lettuce indoors for a better "head" start.

I don't think you want any more than 1" hypocotyl stem between the soil and the seed leaves (and that's pretty leggy already). When you uppot, they can be buried to the base of the seed leaves.

[soil]

yea I would start over since its so early on. but cut those plants above ground level and add them to your next salad. sprouts are really nutritious.

and like applestar said, get the light on them fast, early, and low.

[DoubleDogFarm]

and why are they so yellow, its like they were growing in the dark.

You could also put them on a sandwich.


Eric

[rainbowgardener]

I already planted my lettuce outdoors, direct seeded in the ground. You are in a warmer climate than me, so I don't see why you wouldn't just plant outdoors?

[BarcelonaTerrace]

Hi cgantt

Did you find a solution or did you go ahead with straight outdoors planting? I have the same issue with a lettuce called All-year round lettuce. Overnight and its 2 inches and almost leggy.

Going to pull them and plant outside