Quote:
Originally Posted by agee12
Off topic but I am curious about seed starting in Solo cups which I did last season with mixed results but hope to get better at it. How big are the cups you use? Do you water from the top? If you water from the bottom, do you do anything special to get the water wick up high enough in the cup to reach the seedling's roots?
Thanks.
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I start the seeds in a multicell flat, dense planting method, each cell labeled with a stick ( each cell can have 3 to 20 seedlings in there). Then , at the first true leaves, push them up out of the cell and separate into one per solo cup, planted almost up to the leaves. See the dense planting thread on here by NCtomatoman (Craig) for a good video and I do it like he does, but I use solo cups instead of pots.
The solo cups , 16 or 18 ounce??- have been stacked up about 9 deep and turned upside down, bottoms up, and I use a drill to make lots of holes in the bottoms; even with 6 or more holes drilled, doing them in stacks makes it fast going.
I label the cups as I am going o transplant, fill with MG soiless mix, and plant them. Water from the top at first, after planting, then from the bottoms. Nothing special to make them take up water, the MG absorbed just fine. Once in a while will mist a few, but mine were outside in Texas heat and a constant breeze; shaded from noon on, but still bright light. After about a week to 10 days, out in the yard, full sun, and then planted.
First picture, about 3 to 5 days from transplanting to solo cups 2nd, sorry about the thumb, into the garden with the cup cut for a label.