I’ve seen conflicting posts and processes for separating seedlings, or culling.
I need help determining if I should cull, or separate these when it’s time to up-pot after first leaves are full and healthy.
Will separating these cause them to stunt/die?
Am I better off culling one?
Soak the coir and wash it off and separate?
Pull them apart?
Cut the pod of soil in half?
Cull and leave the stronger one alone, drop the entire coir pod into a new pot?
Please give me guidance. It seems like everyone who has split them up and grown both has suffered stunted plants/dieing off.
by Larry_Fisher_Man
4 Comments
It depends how many plants you want to keep , you are over complicating things. You can peel them apart pretty easily at this stage since the root systems are small.
I would just cull the one you’re not wanting. You seem to have a lot of healthy seedlings to choose from.
When separating it’s honestly easier to do when they are very young since the roots probably arnt intertwined yet. I like to very gently place the plugs in water and the soil will just wash away.
I think any kind of separation will stunt the growth but they’ll bounce back if you’re very gentle and don’t stress the roots too much.
Most dope!
According to master gardeners and a couple of horticultural professors, cull them but don’t pull them out because that could pull on the roots of the other one. According to them it’s best to cut the other seedlings off at soil level, so it doesn’t accidents damage the one left behind.
As someone who has done both, just cull the weaker seedling. I spent way too much time and energy to separate mine and I ended up with more plants than I knew what to do with (they all went to good homes).