Question of the day, thinning...

[daisybelle]

I will be so glad when I'm no longer a newbie and don't have to ask all these questions. But we all have to start somewhere and on a positive note, this is so much fun!   Today it's about thinning.  At what point do I thin?


I'm assuming I let these get some growth before I do it and when I have two this close together when I pull one out is it going to disturb the roots on the other plant?  Would I be better off just clipping one of these at ground level.  Thanks once again for answering yet another question.  I'm sure tomorrow I'll have another.

[scarfguy]

I let the sprouts get about an inch or so above the pod and then just snip all but one off with the scissors.

[daisybelle]

That makes sense.  Now I know, thanks so much!

[maskedsonnet]

An inch or so like scarfguy said, but also if you have a free slot in your machine instead of snipping it out you can veerrrry gently tug the plant out, root and all, and put it in another pod to grow in. I've never tried this with greens, but I've done it successfully with flowers, herbs, peppers, and tomatoes.

[lynnee]

Feb 22, 2023 19:22:16 GMT -5 maskedsonnet said:

An inch or so like scarfguy said, but also if you have a free slot in your machine instead of snipping it out you can veerrrry gently tug the plant out, root and all, and put it in another pod to grow in. I've never tried this with greens, but I've done it successfully with flowers, herbs, peppers, and tomatoes.

As maskedsonnet said, you can "transplant" extra seedlings to another pod if you like. I slit the sponge lengthwise when I do this, and just lay the seedling in along the slit.

Good questions, daisybelle!

[daisybelle]

I have every single slot filled, I just couldn't wait to fill those pods, so I planted with abandon because I was clueless. This whole experience was so unexpected and happened so quickly I did zero research ahead of time, but boy am I doing it now.  Patience is a virtue, unfortunately, I don't have.  I jump right into things and then backtrack trying to clean up my mistakes and figure it all out.  
 

The more I read, the more I'm understanding I need to space things out.  When I plant the new Harvest 360 with butterhead lettuce, I probably should just do 3 plants instead of 6, so they can expand.  It's just hard to not fill all the slots.

I ordered covers for the holes I won't use. Every day I'm thinking of something else I need, but I'm getting there. 

[maskedsonnet]

There is a learning curve when you first start out! But I always thought it was more fun to learn "on the fly" anyways.

[Shawn]

If this is lettuce and there are two seedlings I would not thin as there are only two.  But that is me.  However it also depends on the type of lettuce too.

If herbs (I donot thin oregano, thyme, or rosemary), tomatoes, peppers or other veggies/fruits, thin to one.  Flowers I will leave two or three in a pod

[daisybelle]

Thanks Shawn for the advice.  It's Black Seeded Simpson, so maybe I don't need to thin that.

I will save my thinning for lettuce that forms a head.

[lynnee]

Feb 22, 2023 23:51:57 GMT -5 maskedsonnet said:

There is a learning curve when you first start out! But I always thought it was more fun to learn "on the fly" anyways.

+1