I cut the milk jugs completely off the mass of seedlings/roots and then take a knife and cut the square into about 6 sections. They always seem to grow just fine that way.

I want to keep this up at the top. Because this is the next Level. I know there is a HOS method. Has anyone soaked them and tried to remove each plant individually? (I was thinking Fish Emulsion.)

What are experiences at the next level for us newbies?

I tip the entire contents out whole and divide from there. Spread the fingers of one hand to catch if it's coming out easily. And working in the shade, not sun, to avoid shocking them more than I have to.

I don't transplant as young as some so may have more roots, but I find the soil has to be more of a 'medium wet' Ladyrose.....too wet and the weight of the soil will pull it away from fragile roots, too dry and it falls off. I water pots a day or two before I'm going to take them out of the pots and transplant - but could see where that would vary for a grower trying to plant in warm windy weather like I don't have ....where pots could dry out more quickly.

So I tried cutting the milk jugs completely off and that worked quite a bit better--easier than mangling the seedlings out of the container with spoon/trowel/transplanter. I will try watering the day before and see if that helps the soil to stay together better too.

I had hoped to reuse the milk jugs but cutting them away when I transplanted beets today had much more success. One of the problems is that I don't have a "hunk o seeds". There were 6-9 plants in each jug and they were LARGE. In fact they looked kinda leggy to me which I think is not good.

Anyone else with some other tips? All you seasoned WSers, please help us newbies! Thanks so much!

You don't need hunks of seedlings to use HOS, it's just a matter of removing a mass of roots and soil together, leaving it all as intact as possible. Only you know what size that would be or how to portion it because you're looking at that jug. Legginess could be from insufficient light and the seedlings grewn in a stretched manner to reach as much light as they could, as quickly as they could.

Ditto what morz8 does, working in shade and waiting until the sprouts get a bit of size to them so they're easier to handle. I potted up hundreds since I didn't have beds ready to plant them in. They all went sleepy-bye in November, tucked down into a trench in the garden where they're currently covered by a comfy 6 ft. blanket of snow.

I also plant out seedlings in a similar fashion to Morz. Water them beforehand so the soil is moist; slide out of container and tease apart the seedlings. I like to plant most seedlings individually, to give them their space. Transplant in the morning or evening, or on a cloudy/drizzly day when temps are cooler.

I like to reuse containers also, and the 1 & 2 LTR bottle are very easy to rinse and re-use. Make sure they have straight sides - if the side of the bottle is contoured, it is much more difficult to extract the seedlings! Milk jugs can be re-used if they are cut around the middle with a hinge, but the seedlings are a little more difficult to get out, and the plastic becomes brittle and breaks down more quickly than the bottles.

Some plants are so easy to direct sow that dealing with containers and transplanting is unnecessary hassle. Transplanting can also set the growth back. I always direct sow Cucumbers - very easy and they fruit relatively quickly.

firsthouse_mp can you show us a picture?

I realize that you can get many more plants in the milk jugs but I use soup containers(twin pack you get at Sam's) ..not endorsing Sams just sayin..the containers are smaller but hold quite a few seeds and easy to remove seeds

Ladyrose had a good idea for me to post some pictures, so here are some of the very crowded jugs!
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These are my sad transplants (beets):
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Not so great looking broccoli:
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Lettuce was fine until I transplanted them:
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Some of the chard has bounced back a wee bit and today they almost seemed OK. The beets and the broccoli remain fairly wilted still. The weather was overcast but warmish so I did fog them this morning with a mister hose.

I have a whole bunch of sunflowers that are outgrowing their jugs as you can see--these need to be transplanted but I am scared to. They are quite leggy and the stems are growing sideways!

Lovin'the pictures! What are those cages? They def. look like something I need? Do inform about them?

Any time you transplant anything it is going to be mad at you. I do not care when you transplant it will show a little resentment at first. Especially when you go to planting in full sun.

My sister is learning how to garden, when I say that I mean she just doesn't know how to plant or grow from seed or save seed, BUT believe it or not she taught me something that I use and I notice it really helps. She digs her hole, then fills the hole with water, then puts the plant in then fills with dirt. I still have to pat it down and continue to add dirt till it is solid enough. Though I noticed when trying this way it didn't take the 4 to 5 days to a few weeks it did with planting then watering for the plant to perk up.

I am a newbie. Would totally removing the tops of containers help with light requirements and prevent legginess? Would this cause plants to dry out too much or just need watering a little each day? I am so excited and want success with my seedlings. Love this bunch of gardeners.

I am going to try the flooded hole thing. I transplanted very early in the morning to avoid the direct sun but it may have still been too hot that day--70 degrees last week. This week we have rain all week in NorCal, so maybe now is the time to do the rest of transplanting :)

The cages are protection against my chickens and the birds. They are just bended wire and I use them over my alliums, my other plants, etc. My husband bended these "bridges" to give my plants a bit of a chance to grow before they are attacked. There is just enough room under there for some lettuces to grow(18" wide). I also drape bird netting over the bridges to protect the smallest seedlings.
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I also use this cage over some of my veggies too. This cage sits on my raised beds but also served as an outdoor playpen/brooder for my teen pullets when they were just being introduced to the older hens. I put this cage right beside my bigger run for a month so they could look at eachother before being integrated. Right now its the only thing saving my tiny patch of lettuces!
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My cucumbers barely protected against the velociraptors dirt bathing behind the trellis!
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Somehow this short 18" wire fencing around the bottom of teepee is protecting my shell peas and kale inside the ring! I think I'm playing with fire here--it will only take one chicken a second to hop this and decimate the small plants.{{gwi:354991}}

Aaaah California! What a beautiful garden including the turf...And chickens! Enjoyed your photos. This is my first year ws and I have learned so much from your comments. I too wanted to save my jugs but now I will cut them away to save the seedlings.

Yes, we Californians embarrassingly had such gorgeous weather in Feb while the East Coast froze. This week in NorCal is all rain to help our milk jugs!

I too am in my first year of WSing and am learning learning learning! Looked this morning at the beets and I do believe they are somewhat a bit perkier! Crossing my fingers!!!

Seeing your jugs, I think they stretched because they were so big and still in the jugs. Sun couldn't get to the bottom of the plant, so they stretched for light. I usually transplant when they're much smaller, only a couple of inches tall.

Karen

Great pics! Love your chickens, although having to deal with all the wire everywhere would be a pain. It looks like you have gorgeous weather there. Around here, it is cold today, and white everywhere you look - although yesterday was 50F and I can see a litle grass poking up from the path to the bird feeders this morning. It was kind of startling to see grass!

Your WS transplants look pretty good. I think they will be ok. I agree with Karen that you could try to plant them out when they're a bit smaller next time, or sow fewer seeds per container. The roots would be easier to deal with and less transplant shock.

1. wet your container and drain well. Your hunk should pop out like a brownie.
2. off goes the lids here at the first true set of leaves and the jugs are moved to partial shade. Bottom water if necessary.
3. plant out happens with second true set of leaves. It looks nuts, but the plants are stronger than you think.
4. I HOS everything. Hunks can be as big as a jug or in 2-3 inch pieces.
5. I plant out when it's overcast and rainy. It's easier on the sprouts and ma nature waters them in.