Potting Up My 2024 Seedlings

Potting UP My Seedlings!
Seed Starting is only the BEGINNING! There's so much more to do... and Potting Up my tiny seedlings, to give them room to grow is NEXT for my garden journey. Here's a few steps of POTTING UP for me. My process, Potting Soil, Seed Starter, WHEN to use, which. My most important tip: SIFTING SEED STARTER and POTTING SOIL to get the fluffiest and best soil for growing seedlings!

I am potting up my Roma Tomato, Ukrainian Purple Tomato, Big Red Bell, Golden Cal Wonder Bell Pepper, Two kinds of Brussels Sprouts, Eggplant, some flowers, including Marigolds, Zinnia, Bachelor's Button, and some herbs, including 2 kinds of Basils, Oregano, Parsely, and more.

The thing is, when starting seedlings, I use a SEED STARTING soil-less mix. I grow the seedlings in a mix of half Sphagnum PEAT MOSS, 1/4 Vermiculite, 1/4 Perlite. The mix has no real soil. No nutrition. No fertilizer. NOW, the reason why, is that seed has all it needs to grow except light, air and water. Soil is not needed until a couple weeks into their growing.

Once the seeds get to grow leaves, not the first set called Cotyledons, but the FIRST set, and SECOND set of true leaves, THAT is where the roots are now looking for nutrients. and that point, one or two sets of true leaves, means I need to get the seedlings into soil. REAL soil.

I use a mix of an inch or 2 (3 to 5 cm) of potting soil (real soil) and then add my seedling. THEN, I put potting soil/seed starter (real soil and peat moss mixed) around the seedling, to help it set up in it's new pot.