[Eblana]

I have just been watching GW (recorded it last night).  Monty was potting on his Toms and said not to firm them into the pots.  I have always lightly firmed them in and this seemed a little odd to me - what do others do?

[Goneterseed]

I don't firm them but lightly water them to settle the soil around them.

[m1ckz]

ive allways firmed them in,,,,,not had any problems

[Steveharford]

Ive always firmed mine in, no problems. I did see a video on pricking out chillies recently, and they were quite adamant about not firming them.

[Beetroot Queen]

I tuck all my plants up in bed once potted on. ( firmed in)

[Growster...]

I gently hoik them out of their seedling tray with a wooden pointed stick, hold them only by their seed leaves, make a hole on the compost with said stick and pop them in with whatever compost is still sticking to the roots.

The tap root will be quite long by the time the secondary leaves appear, so the hole needs to be at least 2" deep! Try and keep the stems short too, the tom will develop more side roots the deeper it is!

Then fill the gaps with a little loose compost and water in! Job done!

[Dave NE]

I potted on mine yesterday and firmed them in, 6 Big Boy/6 Marmand/6 Gardeners delight and 3 Black cherry (sow by 2010 !), Dave

[Lardman]

 

I think Monty would have a fit if he saw how I dug them out of the cell trays with a butter knife pushed them down into a ½ filled pot of lumpy multipurp and then backfilled and firmed.   

[LotuSeed]

I have just been watching GW (recorded it last night).  Monty was potting on his Toms and said not to firm them into the pots.  I have always lightly firmed them in and this seemed a little odd to me - what do others do?

I think a lot would depend of the type of material you're putting them into. My seed sowing compost is very light and fluffy and if I don't firm it, the starts won't fair well when watered because the soil "sinks" so much . The regular compost I use is quite a bit denser and compacts quite easily on its own, no tamping needed.