2:22 pm
October 20, 2011

Hello everyone,
I have recently sowed 10 varieties of seeds(flowers and veggies) in coco peat. 6 of them have germinated. How long can I keep these seedlings in the tray. As the coco peat has no nutritional value for the seedling should I fertilize them with 'Maxigro' or should I transplant them immediately into pots with soil?
They are just 2 days old and I am not sure if it is the right move.The germinated seeds are okra, cucumber, brinjal, dianthus, cosmos géant, basil, mini sunflower and spinach.
Any suggestions are welcome.
10:48 am
October 20, 2011

I transplanted all the seedlings and many of them did not survive. I had waited too long I guess. The ones which I transplanted immediately after germination survived like spinach, cucumber, cosmos and brinjal.
Coco peat gives excellent germination but the trade off is the transplantation process.
12:26 pm
May 1, 2010

Sushma,
You didn't mention how big is the tray you used for starting these seeds. If you used the usual 98cell propagation tray or something like that(with one seedling per tray) then you can leave the seedlings in them for 3-4 weeks.
Transplanting just 2 day old seedlings will result in high mortality if you don't provide a proper environment. Check the sowing chart for what can be transplanted and what can't be. Cucumber, okra, spinach, sunflower.. don't handle transplanting very well.
you should fertilize them. Maxigro is hiigh potassium. you don't need that high potassium during initial stages..
9:03 pm
October 20, 2011

Hello GG,
I used a seedling tray with 50 cells(5*10). I had 2 seedlings per cell. So approximately 10 seedlings per every variety. I was just giving water and I had no other fertilizer except maxigro with me. So, I was not sure if I can give it so I did not give it. They were a week old and very lanky so I was worried they'll die so I transplanted them.
The cucumber was growing so fast. It was 4-6 inches tall in 2 days so I transplanted them immediately and the success rate is 100%. All of them survived. Spinach also I transplanted within 2 days and they survived. They are showing true leaves now.
Okra, mini sunflower etc I had transplanted them after more than 1 week and they did not survive. I might have 1 okra plant...one survived.
I sowed mini sunflower and other flower seeds...this time in soil so waiting for them to germinate. Somehow germinating in soil has given me more failure. Cocopeat gave almost 100% germination.
I have a slow release fertilizer..some brown granules. Can they be mixed in water and given to seedlings in coco peat? (the shopkeeper just packed it from his stock. He said it was 15-15-15 so I don't know any brand name/make etc)
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