HELP! How to transplant LOADS of chillis/tom plants/busy lizzies-in v.small container

DEBTMONKEY1A

As a complete novice (!) I bought some 'seed propogater kits' for 89p from B&M bargains (!) It consists of a plastic propogater lid & a propogater plastic tray abou 2 inces deep, 6/7 inches long & around 4 inches wide.

I have in one container TWENTY jalapeno seedlings (all about 1 to 2 inces high-just showing 1st real leaves)...in the other THIRTEEN cerise tomato plants (3 inches high-1st proper set of leaves formed)...& probably about SIXTY busy lizzy shoots (all an inch high-most have seed leaves only a few have signs of 1st leaves), I also have alpine strawberry plants -40 or so(!)(1cm high) but these are so small I'll transplant whole block in a few weeks to a pot-too small to transplant individually!

I guess with the busy lizzies as they'll be nigh on impossible to separate I can gently break compost into say 3 bits & plant directly into ground (when a bit warmer-2 wks or so)...if I lose a few still got a load to grow....good plan?

My main concern is the chillis (Jalapeno) & tomatos as I REALLY want to grow these & reap the rewards! I've gently lifted compost & roots are to the bottom of the tray....now should I try & transplant the chillis/tomatos separately (probably a touch easier for toms as they're a bit bigger & further apart) & accept a few migh not make it or break the compost gently for the chillis & have say 3 or 4 in a large pot???...or am I best to do one per pot ?

What is the best way to tease them out without too much root damage?? I'll accept some will die but if 1/2 survive I'll be happy....

In my 'novice' like enthusiasm I simply tipped them in .......(!) I have some haberno fresh seeds sprouting taken from a chilli bought 4 weeks ago-2- to a 3 inch pot-& they're already 1/2 the size of the jalapenos in FIVE days-jalapenos have been seeding for a MONTH!

HELP-don't want to lose my plants!

savemoney

I normally tease plants with a small trowel just a few mm from plant 5mm at most just to loose soil and normally see roots when you loosen the soil any way. Then gentle pull plant and plant in a pot with compost and use a dabber or a piece of wood around 8-10mm plant in and gentle cover with compost

Sally_A

A small plastic fork, or a fork from the cutlery drawer is a good tool, as it teases the roots apart. You use one end for dibbing the next hole, and the forky end for teasing the plants out of the seed tray.

Good luck - the chillies and tomatoes should be fine so long as you are gentle.

(Don't know about the busy lizzies).

fimonkey

Lol, I remember when I first started planting seeds, I always planted far too many and then couldn't bear to cull any. One year I had 60 sunflowers for my tiny 9m2 garden.... anyway my advice is a large sheet on the floor to catch the compost. Gently empty a few of the seedlings on to the sheet and tease them apart with your fingers.

Good luck.

DEBTMONKEY1A

Thanks....will try all the suggestions! i think I'll deffo just break the busy lizzies into 4 (after hardening them off in outside greenhouse for a week/2 weeks)....cheers!

foreign_correspondent

once you get the compost out of the tray you will probably find it is quite easy to gently break the compost apart and pull out the individual seedlings, just make sure it is nice and damp before you start. I would pr1ck out the buzy lizzis now and pot them on into 3" pots, and harden them off like that, then plant out.

ETA - with the chillies and toms, do one per pot. They will grown faster once they have their roots in some new compost.