Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Dense planting and root bound before true leaves

outsiders71 · April 26, 2010

This was my first year trying the dense planting method, using 50 cell trays and a 50/50 mix of Coir/Coarse Perlite. I started my seeds on April 2nd.

I was curious to if anyone has ever encountered their seedlings to go rootbound in their densely planted trays, before their first set of true leaves are fully developed. That is the situation I'm faced with. I got 2 to 3 inch seedlings, with some seedlings not even showing true leaves yet. Some have visible true leaves but they are puny. A further investigation of the soil shows the roots filling up the cell and starting to come out of the drain holes.

As before mentioned I was using a 50/50 mix of Coir/Coarse Perlite (no nutrients added, but have watered with Actinovate once), watering maybe once a week (allowed the soil to dry out), 1020 trays on heat mats with soil temps ~75-80 F. Using artificial lighting (over driven T8 ballasts with 3000K and 6500K bulbs) for 16 on 8 off.

I have transitioned the plants outside and try to get them out there as much as I can, depending on the weather and if I'm going to be around to bring them in.

I also notice some yellowing on the seedlings in blotches, kinda like a spray paint like pattern. Not sure what the cause of this is, I'm going to attach some images:

*One of the seedlings has brown tips and yellowing, though others don't*

I'm going to start potting them up into 16 oz cups and hope for the best. The only thing I did different this year was the dense planting and the usage of heat mats because I had problems germinating peppers last season in my cool basement. I hope somebody knows what I did wrong :O.

April 26, 2010	#1
outsiders71 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 150	Dense planting and root bound before true leaves This was my first year trying the dense planting method, using 50 cell trays and a 50/50 mix of Coir/Coarse Perlite. I started my seeds on April 2nd. I was curious to if anyone has ever encountered their seedlings to go rootbound in their densely planted trays, before their first set of true leaves are fully developed. That is the situation I'm faced with. I got 2 to 3 inch seedlings, with some seedlings not even showing true leaves yet. Some have visible true leaves but they are puny. A further investigation of the soil shows the roots filling up the cell and starting to come out of the drain holes. As before mentioned I was using a 50/50 mix of Coir/Coarse Perlite (no nutrients added, but have watered with Actinovate once), watering maybe once a week (allowed the soil to dry out), 1020 trays on heat mats with soil temps ~75-80 F. Using artificial lighting (over driven T8 ballasts with 3000K and 6500K bulbs) for 16 on 8 off. I have transitioned the plants outside and try to get them out there as much as I can, depending on the weather and if I'm going to be around to bring them in. I also notice some yellowing on the seedlings in blotches, kinda like a spray paint like pattern. Not sure what the cause of this is, I'm going to attach some images: One of the seedlings has brown tips and yellowing, though others don't I'm going to start potting them up into 16 oz cups and hope for the best. The only thing I did different this year was the dense planting and the usage of heat mats because I had problems germinating peppers last season in my cool basement. I hope somebody knows what I did wrong :O.