I had hoped to do some more fluff posts on the development of the seedlings before getting to this point, but essential work is taking more of my time, so I'm trying to stick to the important things.
I've found that for many new gardeners, this is the hardest part of starting your own seedlings. I'll admit, chopping down those perfectly healthy plants can seem very counterproductive. I have learned, however, that thinning my seedlings early helps a lot with speed of development and size of harvest.
The star of this show will be the tomatoes. As you can see, this tray is looking a bit like a chia pet. Many of these are just starting their second nodes. I like to do my thinning at this point because it is usually pretty clear which of your seedlings are the stronger, healthier looking ones.
I overseeded the tomatoes heavily this year, because my seeds were getting to be a few years old and I had a lot of them. Older seeds usually do not germinate as well, but all of these were apparently still very vigorous.
Tomatoes are a great plant to learn on, because they are remarkably hardy. In the past, I have literally pulled out clusters like this, pulled them all apart individually, and repotted each little plant with 100% survival rate. I do not recommend that practice, unless you need to save every seedling. When you have many extras, like I have here, it is best to cut the unwanted plants off at ground level.
For tomatoes, I actually cut them off a little below ground level, because sometimes the little stubs will continue growing, robbing nutrients from the plants you're trying to save. When you're done, you'll have just one plant in each space in your cell. I did this really late, and didn't realize this picture was so blurry until just now. Maybe I'll get the photography right next year. I will always be more focused (pun intended) on a good harvest than a good picture.
You can kind of see in this picture that the stronger plants are typically the ones growing a little farther away from the cluster. What you're looking for with tomatoes is a strong stem and symmetrical leaf developement. If you are unsure of which seedling to keep, flip a coin. It really isn't that important. Even if you save the all the smallest, weakest plants, they will grow and produce if cared for properly.
Now this is what a tray of tomato seedlings SHOULD look like 😁
Here is the pile of brave draftees that gave their lives so their families could grow and prosper. The tiny Fiskars scissors are a new purchase, and are suited extremely well to this work. They are also perfect for the pruning that these same tomatoes will need in another two weeks or so. Any scissors with a fine point will work well. If you're looking around for a good set, you probably have some toenail clippers somewhere you aren't even using... 😂
I will end up tossing these in the compost, but if you (or your friends) need a lot of tomato plants and you want to provide them, each of these cutting can still be grown. If you place these in damp soil and keep them moist, like you would for starting seeds, nearly 100% of them should root and grow. You can also place them in a small glass (like a shot glass) of water until you see the roots start to form, and then bury them.
This is the one of the 3d printed sprinkler heads I mentioned in a previous post. Files to print your own are available for free in a variety of places on the internet, or these can be purchased online for pretty cheap. Anything will work, as long as it waters gently enough to not disturb your soil.
That will conclude another post. I will try to keep up enough with the informational posts to keep them relevant to the growing season here in Western NY. Thank you all for the views, the votes, the comments, the tips, the interest, and your time! I hope you continue to find the content useful, and I'll try to think of some ways to lure you all into watching the short video clips of our chickens!