When to up pot and how?

[PunkRotten]

Hi,


Ok I got some tomato and pepper sprouts. When should I be up potting them? As soon as I see the first true leaves? And when you up pot, do you try to take the soil with it and keep the roots intact or do you wanna loosen up the soil and have the roots exposed?


Also when you have some sprouts and the cotyledons are a little yellow or brown at the tips what does that mean?

[Bobberman]

You can do it anytime as long as you take care of what is coming up and how big you seed trays are! i start my seeds in boxes and up pot for weeks! If you have your plants in the very small seed starting trays that hold 200 plants in a flat do it when they are several inches high or a few days after they come up. The plug of soil should come out with the roots so keep the soil slightly moist when you pull them out!!

[Marlingardener]

Up-potting is best done when there are two sets of true leaves. By that time the little plants have enough root system to support the stress of moving.
I prepare the new pot with a little bit of soil, take the seedling with as much soil on the roots as possible, and gently place it in the new pot (which is just a bit larger than the one it came from).Then gently fill the gap with more soil, tamp gently, and water from the bottom. Of course, as you know, tomato seedlings can be planted much deeper than others, since they form roots from the buried stem.
The cotyledons get brown/yellow naturally. They are not meant to be permanent leaves--just starters. They are the trainer wheels on the plant's bicycle!

[PunkRotten]

Your method of transplant the same for all seedlings?

[Marlingardener]

Pretty much the same. For plants that I (ahem ) started a bit early and that will get fairly big before they go outside (basil and a few other herbs), I put in larger 4" pots than the slower growing ones. I use deeper 2" or 3"pots for the slower growing seedlings.