petruske said:
I have some flats that were planted ONE seed per cup (they are small cups). They didn't seem to do as well as other flats that were growing in "company" situations. About two weeks ago I lifted them out of their cup, cut the bottom off of the cup and replaced them into the same cup, then they were put back into the flat with a bottom layer of seed-starter like the other flats. The roots were already circling around the bottom of the cup so I think it was a great improvement for them.
I've noticed this as well. Gang-planted seedlings tend to do much better - particularly when they're very small, and I suspect it's because there are more roots in the pot, which probably tends to mitigate any excess moisture problems. Sometime around the middle of November I planted a round of seeds in 3.5" pots, and have had them under lights, outside on nice days, and in the rain whenever possible. When I was sowing, I had room for one last pot under the lights, and the envelope had almost 30 seeds in it, so I put them all in that pot. They've done surprisingly well, and today the plants seem to be at least 80% the size of those in the other pots, which ranged from 4-10 seeds at planting time. The crowded pot is drying out pretty quickly now, and I have started dunking it in a weak fertilizer mix to keep it going. It needs to be dealt with soon, because the sides of the pot are starting to bulge noticeably. I like that these will self-select for vigor and stamina, and once I tease them apart it'll be easy to pick the toughest 10 or so to grow on.
It's a wide-format picture, so you'll have to click on it to see the whole thing.
