I find that when you drop a whole tray of seedlings it is time to pot them up. Yes, yesterday was a very sad day. Hoping to save them. Thanks for all the great information.
I feel your pain. My trays of rare kale sprouts got leggy despite being under grow lights in the sun. Then through a combination of stress, drying out, and the aphids attacking them, several of them keeled over dead. I think I have to transplant them the moment they come up, though if I can't bury the stems, I don't know how else to support them.
Although I understood what you meant by 3 times the volume, but the engineer in me has to point out that 1x1x1 inch to 3x3x3 inch is much more than 3 times the volume, in fact that is 27 times the volume 😆
Thanks for the video, Luke. If you go from a 1"X 1" X 1" pot to a 3" X 3" X 3" pot, you are actually increasing the volume by 27 times, not tripling it.
I guess he tries to make it simple for some viewers; easier to choose the right size of pots. He is in gardening business, he should know the volume concept in and out.
I've found that one way to fix floppy lettuce seedlings is to put a ring around them such as a toilet paper tube (the earlier the better as soon as you see floppiness). I've had a few I thought were goners whose leaves were even starting to get plastered to the soil that I saved this way and once their stems got thicker they stood up much better. I have gotten a good harvest from all of them and none went to waste. Also if you transplant them in a mason jar with a small bubbler in the bottom you can bury them a little deeper in clay pebbles inside a net cup without getting crown rot. Several of mine got really strong that way; even better than the toilet paper roll method!
I was totally doing that "I'm gonna fix this plant and make it straighter by replanting it deeper." Did that to ALL my leggy seedlings before I found out I needed to buy a grow light lol. Watching this channel can save a lot of headaches!! Great content keep it up, one of my new favourite channels to watch!!👍👍😎
Very useful and informative. Thanks! Funnily enough I was just going through my daughter's science schoolwork with her a few hours ago before I watched this. Her chapter was about where molecules for plant growth come from. I assumed at least a large portion of the plant's mass from growth came from the soil, but an old experiment by Van Helmont actually showed that the mass of soil a plant grows in changes very little. It was later discovered that the new plant mass comes mostly from the air and water. The soil in your pots is likely about the same mass as it was when you first planted your house plants. It's just broken down a bit, so it takes up less space than it used to, to make room for all those roots. Very little of it was consumed by your plants.
Thank you thank you!! This was perfect for me (lettuce) and my wife (her aloe house plant). Your timing couldn't have been more perfect LOL. thanks again. 😁👍
Thank you for your videos! I greatly appreciate them. I have been gardening for 3 years now and the seeds being started inside are confusing. But you just cleared up a lot of my concerns, thanks again!
Luke, what I really need a info on at what temp it is safe to transplant outside, particularly lettuce and brassicas. I want to get them out as early as possible but don’t want to shock them too much with the cold. I have such issues with lettuce bolting before I can enjoy it.
I have the same problem if I try to plant lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower. It just doesn’t work well where I live because spring is like 2 weeks long and then it’s 90°. Most in my area plant them inside in August and outside in September to get a harvest before the freeze. Don’t know if your area is like mine
@@ambergoreham same in my area (SW Michigan). In fact I still have iceberg leaf lettuce under the snow and it's fine. They are dormant, they don't grow right now, but they are alive and I can brush some snow off a small section and harvest some occasionally. I'm surprised they survived the blizzard. Come spring they should start growing again and I can actually have earlier salad than usual. The snow insulates these cold loving plants. Happened with my kale a few years ago as well. Given this new information I don't think I will plant lettuce in spring anymore in Michigan. Too easy to kill delicate seedlings and Too quick to go bitter and bolt.
This video was awesome. I’m very new to gardening and my buddy who has been gardening for years recommended me to your channel. This information is paramount for a beginner! Thank you!
Thanks for this and all of the videos you make. I'm about to plant my first seeds EVER, TODAY. I'm in SW Michigan, so indoors, of course. I was so happy to see this instructional video, to help keep me from making mistakes when it's time to transplant the seedlings. Last frost date here is May 1st, so I have 7 weeks until then, AND, will still need to keep an eye on the weather before transplanting outdoors for the non-frost hardy varieties - as we all know that last frost date is the average and it's going to vary year to year. 3/12 and it's snowing, lightly. Here we go!
I always look forward to your tips and pointers. Doesn't matter if you've said it all before, sometimes I pick up on things that I missed previously. Or could it be that I wasn't fully ready to comprehend it all before? Repetition is always good for learning. Blessings
I was surprised to see your Aloe Vera. I and my Mom have been growing them for over 60 years. When she moved out of the house I took a plant with me to care for it. I have repotted several times, and in 2019, a 3 1/2 foot spike grew and bloomed. I had never seen anything like that in my life. The blossoms were green and not real pretty, but another growing miracle occurred. The original plant was found near a garbage drop, and when rolling the dice and planting grew like a champion. My Aloe Vera has 50 plus shoots growing in the pot with it, another surprise, and time to repot them and the parent now. With my seed starting system I transplant them from the small starting tray to 3 inch pots when they get the first main leaves on the stem. I grow tomatoes, peppers, basil and flowers this way and it seems to work well and I don't have to deal with any empty pots due to nonsprouting. I like this video Luke. Thanks.
when you said tomatoes are the only plant you can plant deeper, i instantly thought about brassicas. i thought those could be buried deeper too. i guess not, good to know :)
Thank you Luke! I learned about transplanting houseplants and that they consume their soil. *mindblown* I've been treating my houseplants like an outdoor garden plant... giving them too large of a home. It all makes sense now.
Awesome - I just transplanted a few tomato sprouts into bigger pots because this is what I did - I made like 4 little holes in a 6x6 and just threw in like 4-6 seeds in each hole - so I gotta transplant them asap before they grow bigger and the roots get tangled! They are roughly 1-2 weeks old, tiny little things 🌱 And that strategy kinda backfired - I now have more sprouts than available pots, Walmart doesn’t have those trays, only individual pots
So many questions answere here today. Thank you, Luke! Soaking-up everything you say in this series, because I've got an entire garden's worth of your seeds I don't want to screw-up this season. This year, we're going to try to live off what we produce here on our little farm, and I'm a 100% gardening noob. Learning all I can from you before I start making mistakes. Thank you for all you're doing, we really appreciate you.
I had just watched Gardiner Scott talking about seed packaging & he mentioned MIGardiner in that review :-) I felt I should get some seeds from you just for that reason, Mostly Walmart, Home Depot, or Green Acres... they are local. In a mobile home park, there is not much space to garden, but everybody has their own cross to bear. I don't have a green house, & trying to grow in side is an issue as my cats like to eat what germinates. So, I am late with tomatoes & peppers already, what can I plant outside in Sacramento, CA... BTW, I love your videos, lost of :-) Thank You, & your team... after all, Team Work, makes the Whole thing work!
Hello neighbor..(I'm in Antelope .. just north of Sacramento) I am getting ready to plant potatoes, beans, beets, peas, chard, onions, to be followed later by summer crops.
Very helpful. I’m about ready to do some transplanting and was questioning the timing and size. Also, I had no idea using a “too large” container may cause root rot and fungus problems. Thank yoh!
I just want to give an unsolicited review of my own! MI gardener seeds germinate at a great rate! Like, almost 100% and they popped up sooner than my seeds from other companys. I am very satisfied with my purchases. Looking forward to a great planting season!
Thank-you Luke, so excited to get my lettuce started! I'm in central Ontario under much snow at the moment but spring is not far away and your Michigan weather is similar to ours. Your pot size guidelines were very helpful, another great video 👍 Thank-you for You 😊
if something like kale or lettuce or broccoli is really leggy, you still just transplant it into your raised bad leggy? Seems like that would promote fungus issues with the leaves contacting the ground, no?
It amazes me how you are of the few that KNOWS not to bury pepper stem when transplanting, unlike many that say to bury for more roots. Glad you know better.
I learned the measurement rule for transplanting to a diff container for vegetative versus fruiting plants, and burying the plant in soil attempting to correct it's floppy state, that's a no no unless it's a tomato plant. Thank you for the valuable information.
Thank you Luke! This was SUPER helpful! I know to keep a better eye on the bottom of my seedling tray to watch for roots starting to peek out of the bottom. Also, now I know how to decide what size container in which to pot them!
Moving from a 1" x 1" container (1 square inch) to a 3" x 3" container (9 square inches) - assuming the same depth of container - is a 9 times volume increase, not a 3 times increase.
What about potato plants? I had always heard that during the growing time, we should pull the dirt up close and up onto the potato plant. Of course, that isn't a seedling or transplant-size plant.
Potatoes, like tomatoes, are a nightshade vining plant, and have determinate and indeterminate varieties. One will continue making potatoes as you hill it, all up the buried vine. Such as russets. Others will make a batch of potatoes and be done, no hilling needed, such as Norland.
Potatoes need to form without light. The dirt is for covering up and preventing sunlight. Otherwise, they will turn into green potatoes and are toxic for consumption.
Thanks for info. Very helpful. Previously mention that you might do some indoor gardening video's,, would like those. Like info on Orchid Cactus, Orchids, Hibiscus, and bonsai's.
Thanks. I started tomatoes in super small pots this year because of space constraints. I’m concerned how long I will need to leave them in these pots before I move them to my cold frame. 11:17
Good information. I have a question about other vining plants not re-rooting. I have seen butternut squash and sweet potatoes re-rooting as they grow. I've heard that you can actually cut them after they root and have multiple plants. Am I mistaken?
Nope, you are correct. The difference is when tomato seedlings are buried deep, the tiny hairs of the main stem will develop into roots. The vining squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, strawberries, etc grow roots from nodes if they touch on the ground soil (cannot be buried deep).
My tomatoes are in 3 inch pots but I have 2 to 4 seedlings per pot, do I move them to 3 inch pot each or 5 inch pot each? I expect to plant outside by the end of this month or a week into March.
Thank you for all the videos! I started gardening last year but most of my plants did not make it sadly. Wish I would have found your channel sooner. I had a watermelon plant last year but an animal ate into it, is there anything I can do to prevent animals from eating my plants but still make sure they can get the sunlight and water they need?
Last summer I had broccoli and cabbage seedlings getting leggy on me so I potted them up and planted deeper. They all survived and thrived. Roll of the dice maybe.
Hi Luke and/or fellow gardeners...thoughts on whether you should let fruits set before transplanting? Have seen lots of videos from others on not buying plants that already have fruits, but what if you need a longer season to get certain veges and fruits ripe before end of season. Trying to decide how early to start melons and long growing vege indoors before transplanting but need some advice...thx a bunch! (I tried to find a video you may have already done on this but was unsuccessful)
I have a question. I;m planing my MI Gardener onion seeds I got from you earlier in the year. The onions are in a 1x1 right now and are about 2 inches in height. They are all flopped over right now. Will the straighten up and they continue to grow? I'll also be starting my MI Gardener tomatoes. Is end of Feb a good time to start them?
Hey Luke, what do we do when we can't transplant yet? SoCal is having the coldest spring in decades, so we can't put them in the earth yet, but my seed-starting pods are getting huge already. I began transplanting into 3.5" plastic pots with the largest ones, is this a good plan for the meantime? Nice to see you brother.
Hey idk if he meant to transplant like for the winter time when u can’t transplant outside yet, or if u want 2 transplant regardless before planting outside?
Is the recommended time of "starting" your seeds the day it sprouts or not? As in, do I need my seeds germinated by that date or just to start them on that date?
Hi I Purchased MIGardener seeds and they arrived in the mail but they were in my mailbox for like 20 hours in 20 degree Fahrenheit weather. Will all the seeds still be viable?
