[Zippy]

I am finding seeds I am sowing in plug trays and the smaller modules are running out of nutrients before seedlings (Beetroot, Swede, Turnip) get to their first pair of true leaves. When I knock them out the roots are thick enough and coiling at the bottom.

When I pot them on, they have a spurt of growth over a week and fill out.

Are plugs only for getting seeds off the ground without using too much compost then and need potting on soon after germination?

The reason I sow in plugs and pot on is to give the plants on my slug ridden plot a fighting chance. I only have a half plot so potting on and planting out is not such a burden as a pleasure really. My allotmenteering feels more like gardening than allotmenteering, making beds of assorted related groups of things rather than metric rows.

I am also finding that Fertile Fibre is really fine and great for germinating seeds, but then not really robust enough to hold a good rootball. Care when planting out is needed.

(reason for editing: spelling)

[Yorkie]

I bought some cosmos from the car boot sale - in tiny 1cm square modules.  The roots were so tightly coiled, and the plants were starting to form flowers even though only 3-4" high, so I guess they were highly stressed.

It's a fine line between moving them before they are ready, and leaving them there too long.

I tend to start things off in modules no smaller than 12 or 18 to a full seed tray.  That seems to give them enough room to get established before planting out.  Only beans and squash / courgettes get started off in a larger pot.