Well, it never fails: I find myself working out of town when my seedlings are growing and need some form of attention from me. The seedlings stayed under their domes a little longer than I would have like and so some of the leaves are a little yellow and wilty. Not a problem. I'll prune them off later and it does nothing to the health of the plant, just not what I wanted to show everyone here.
PHOTO #1 shows what the seedlings look like when I remove them from their net pots and remove the piece of gauze from the roots. They've got true leaves and the root mass itself is starting to produce lateral roots.
PHOTO #2 shows more detail of the lateral roots. The root chamber almost encourages an air pruning effect on the root masses. This is what I look for when determining if the seedlings are ready to be removed from the net pots because these "air pruned" lateral roots are what help the seedlings survive after being pulled from the gauze. If the long roots become too cumbersome, I sometimes trim them because they're not as important in the long run.
PHOTO #3 shows the neoprene cuff on the seedling. I also keep a stash of net pots that have had the bottoms cut out of them with scissors because I use the top piece as a collar for the neoprene to fit into.
PHOTO #4 shows the seedlings back in position for a little more grow time. I really hate showing the seedlings with all of this stressed-out growth from being kept under the domes. Well, some people say that all babies go through an "ugly phase" so I guess this is where we're at for now.
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