Potting Up Seedlings: What, Why, When & How

Here is a demonstration of us potting up some tomato and cucumber seedlings. They needed it, but thankfully weren't too root bound yet! This video was made to accompany a Homestead and Chill blogpost on the subject, which includes more written descriptions, tips, photos, and info on the types of containers we use. Check it out!
homesteadandchill.com/potting...

[@SunshineFarm]

Hey Deanna!! Found you on here from your live on Instagram. Excited to follow along. New subscriber here, we have a small plant-based homestead in Upstate NY. -Jenn

[@HomesteadandChill]

Hey Jen! Thanks for saying hi! 💚

[@ytenl]

Very informative. Please use landscape mode instead of portrait.

[@sonjaland2651]

Can you make a video on how your greenhouse is set up e.g. fans in corner of greenhouse? How you have them setup? How you heat and cool your greenhouse? Do you have a exhaust fan in your greenhouse? Currently, I have a 6x 8 greenhouse similar to yours. Always looking for new ideas to get the most out of it. Thank you. Happy Gardening! 😊🌸

[@dyonisis7681]

watching you put the small pot with plant inside the larger pot as a template then adding soil around the pot, gives perspective to how little soil addition potting up 1 size is. It's not worth it. I go from red 3" cups (plastic drinking cups for socials) straight to 2 gallon pots. Some people have their plants sit for 3 month before going outside. It's important to know what your end game plan is. Others will grow a mother plant out of a 2 gallon pot for 6 months. Obviously fertilizing frequently. The point is potting up is a lot of work. I don't know about most folk, but I use happy frog. then I mix worm castings at 25% to happy frog. Then I go through the arduous chore of grinding handful after handful of the material in my hands rubbing hands together in a back n forth motion. To get out the clumps out, aerate the soil/fluff it up, and remove and large pieces of wood. Then I thoroughly mix it adding perlite. Pretty much an all day event between prepping and finally potting up. I pot up in evening so they go through the shock and recover while sleeping. Not under full strength LEDS. Personally for me, I really don't want to have to repot in 3/4 weeks. I start seedlings in January in peat pellets, pot up to cups after cutting the pellet netting aways and fluffing up the peat pellet pretty much to the bulk of the seedling roots, into cups for 4 weeks depending how quickly the roots fill up the cup, then into 2 gallon pots till last frost late may/june. Then into garden. I'll blanket them up in evening if frost on the horzon, but that's pretty much it. less work. more enjoyment

[@HomesteadandChill]

Copied and pasted from my response to your other comment: No, we are never going to pot up a cucumber into a 2 gallon pot, we start close to one hundred seedlings every year, you really think we would pot them up into gallon sized containers? Tomatoes get started in 4 inch pots, transplanted to 8 inch and then they go into the garden. Cucumbers we start in 4 inch pots and transplant them into the garden without potting up. Squash we start in 6 inch pots and transplant into the garden within a month from sprouting. Flowers we start in 6 cell packs and transplant into the garden without a pot up. Anyway, our gardens are usually pretty prolific so I don't think anything gets root bound to where it stunts the plants growth.

[@nunyabusiness7168]

@@HomesteadandChill Thanks, Deannacat for clarifying what pot size for a specific plant. Is there an article on your website?

[@HomesteadandChill]

@@nunyabusiness7168 You are very welcome, we do have an article on potting up which goes over container sizes as well: homesteadandchill.com/potting-up-seedlings/

[@nunyabusiness7168]

@@HomesteadandChill Thanks. As an aside, I don't mind Ginger talking as I'm learning 'Poultry' to go along with Spanish and French .... [dry humor emoji]

[@charlesbova722]

Good morning, so am I being lazy by putting them in large container and Not transplanting them?

[@rebeccakrause7057]

If you dread potting things up you must dread gardening..why do you do it?

[@dyonisis7681]

yeah that pot you scaled up to for that big cuke plant is too small. pots should be deeper . 2 gallon pot. 7' wide, 9' deep. We're trying to replicate mother nature. Plants do not grow their roots far and wide. The roots make a "B" line straight down. Oh sure there is residual roots at surface. But guaranteed they have a tap root going to the water table. And when you water, where does most of the water go within a few seconds? to the bottom. even bottom watering/osmosis, gravity takes over. it's good to water all the soil yes, but the bulk of the roots are at the bottom . better to make sure you have a deep enough pot to supply a couple months of nutrients so you don't have to repot once/month 1.5" around and at the bottom is not enough. That big cuke plant will eat throught that in less than a week/half. Bigger the plant, faster the grow and food requirements. After you repot that plant, you won't see much change for a few days. But there is change going on underground. Before you see change with the actual plant up top, that plant has been in overdrive expandng it's root system in it's new surroundings. Check the root system on that cuke in 3 days. I'll bet there are tap roots already knocking on the pot's door. good vid btw. keep up the good work. nice seeing ideas.

[@HomesteadandChill]

No, we are never going to pot up a cucumber into a 2 gallon pot, we start close to one hundred seedlings every year, you really think we would pot them up into gallon sized containers? Tomatoes get started in 4 inch pots, transplanted to 8 inch and then they go into the garden. Cucumbers we start in 4 inch pots and transplant them into the garden without potting up. Squash we start in 6 inch pots and transplant into the garden within a month from sprouting. Flowers we start in 6 cell packs and transplant into the garden without a pot up. Anyway, our gardens are usually pretty prolific so I don't think anything gets root bound to where it stunts the plants growth.