How to Tell When It's Time To Transplant Seedlings

We will have better audio soon!!! So sorry! Just going through some learning curves with our new microphone system.

Great information; my Tomato seedlings are super thriving!

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!

Video is beyond helpful. Ty for this!

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

I learned that I just spent the entire evening transplanting seedlings into cells that are too small....oh well I'll see what happens.

What category does medicinal plants fall under? A plant like peppermint? Or Borage?

I have found any fruiting crop I have grown can be planted higher up each replanting. Especially, peppers as long as they haven't gotten woody.

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)

Super helpful!! Ty!!!!

Good information, thanks for educating us!

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!

Go back to school Luke. You are completely wrong on volume .

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!

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.

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!!👍👍😎

Thank you! I learned alot. I always buried my seedlings too deep. You just saved my garden!

This is very helpful! Thank you so much..

not all plants will get crown rot or stem rot from transplanting them below the soil surface. that's why i hate getting information from one source. you've clearly never tried things you speak so surely of.

Brand new to this whole thing. Learning a lot. Thanks for the tips! 👍🪴

1^3 to 3^3 is what you mean even though mathematically that is 27 times the volume.

I hope we get a follow up video of this for the plants going into the ground.

I don't have to worry with transplanting right NOW I have nothing started. I also need to rebuild my garden fence.

Should you always bring the soil all the way to the top of the pot?

Thanks Luke! I learned a lot as always. I LOVED the small shoe analogy😊

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.

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.

Kind of echoed.

Where can you buy the 3 X 3 cell plug trays? I couldn’t find any on Amazon

Love the channel. However a 3" x 3" x 3" pot has 27 times as much space as a 1 " x 1" x 1" pot.

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?

Oh my.. the cutest plant daddy I’ve ever seen

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?

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.

Wow…most of that info I never knew!! But so glad I watched this & learned some new things!! Thank you!!!

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!

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!

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

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?

I would like to know more about when to put soil block seedlings in the ground or in a bigger pot can you speak to that?

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!

I just saw this primocane thornless blackberry developed by Arkansas University. It's called Prime-Ark Freedom, penseberryfarm is selling them as a wholesaler. I think they will produce again in the fall. I would be interested in particpating in a presale. (hint/hint)

Assuming the same height of pot for this whole comment. One by one squared equals one 3 x 3 squared equals nine that’s not three times the volume that’s nine times the volume.

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.

Every video of yours I watch I get useful information from!

I just saw you in a 8 year old video for Larry's Orchid & Topicals .....Great info on this video and even back then

A 4in x 4in x 4in container is actually 64x the volume!

I thought you could plant deeper so thanks!

When I plant the tomato plant deeper and continue to pack soil over the growth to help root establishment, do I tear off the leaves I’m going to bury?

When you pot up do you use regular potting soil or seed starting soil?