I've been diving into gardening this winter, and I started some seeds in egg cartons, but I found out that they might not be the best choice for seed starting. Now I've moved some seeds to solo cups, but I'm attached to the ones in the cartons and I'm confused about the next steps. I know that egg cartons may not provide enough depth once the seedlings begin to grow, but all my seeds have been germinating well over the past couple of weeks, and some roots are already poking out the bottom. I've read I should wait for true leaves before transplanting, but with their shallow depth, should I go ahead and up pot them now or give them some more time? I'm growing spinach, chard, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil, and tarragon in Zone 7B. Any advice would be awesome!
1 Answer
You really should think about potting those seedlings up before the roots twist around and they become root-bound. If you want to keep them in the egg carton, you can just cut some holes in the bottom to let the roots breathe. But if you’re planning to take them out, it’s better to wait a little longer. Just keep an eye on them—if they start looking stressed out, it’s time to repot! You might even try an experiment by potting some now to see how they do compared to the ones you leave behind.
That’s a great idea! I have a few extra seedlings I can experiment with. Thanks for the suggestion!