[lochnesslass]

i have some seedlings that are a bit leggy that need to be planted on/repotted as am not able to plant out untill next week at the earliest.
should i leave them as they are or move them up intobigger/deeper pots?
seedlings are - brussels, cabbage, broccoli and soon some peas.
they are in 6cm pots and i was going to move them to deeper paper pots.
they are residing in the garage to harden off a little this week.

many thanks

[goodtogrow]

Personally, I would pot them on and allow them to grow into strong transplants for planting out later in the year.

Seedling brassicas do grow leggy but I've found that if you plant them deeper in the next pot size they become sturdy.

Tom

[mattwragg94]

i agree with Goodtogrow - pot them on. how long have you hardened the peas off for? as you may be able to put them in the ground now!

[lochnesslass]

peas are still in the house they are about 3'' ish tall,will be hardening off this week when i rejig all the others. and potting up some more peas.
are the peas ok in their existing pots (plastic square about 3-4''sized roughly) some pots have 1 and others 2 seedlings.
once peas hardened off am i right in thinking they should be hardy enough, even for my location?

[mattwragg94]

the problem is peas grow realy quickly - so another week may make your peas leggy and weak - the peas should be fine in the pots - to be honest it seems like you are wasting alot of compost and space just for 1/2 seedlings - for example i can get 15 3inch pots to a tray (so around 30 pea plants using your method) - but i personally just scatter them in a tray in a tray of compost (and i can get around 50 pea plants to a tray).


hmm is i where you id risk it and plant them out - i think even without hardening off theyv'e got more of a chance than keeping them in the house fot another week

but that just my opinion (p.s. how many plants are you growing? you need quite a few to make a decent harvest)

[DD.]

Personally, I just scatter peas in a trench in the ground and cut out all this faffing about with pots!

To underline what Matt said, a lot of people underestimate how many pea plants you need - 12 will only make a foot row, for instance.

[mattwragg94]

Personally, I just scatter peas in a trench in the ground and cut out all this faffing about with pots!

To underline what Matt said, a lot of people underestimate how many pea plants you need - 12 will only make a foot row, for instance.

and tbh i put more than 12 to a row - its sometimes double that.

[mumofstig]

do you mean you put yours at even closer spacing matt?
Close spacing is not really a good idea, a few more per foot as you are sowing alows for a few that don't germinate, but if they're all a lot closer together then they will be competing for nutrients and moisture and may not grow/crop at all well 

[lochnesslass]

i plan on planting more every week successionally rather than doing them all at once, is this wise?
so really if not planting them straight out i'd be better sowing them in a tray rather than pots and just move them out before they get tangled.
or how about skinny paper pots to use less compost, then put out?
i'm just not very good at transplanting out from a crowded tray, iykwim.
i plan to plant the peas in polystirine fish boxes with bamboo cane support  and netting - sound ok?