I up-pot any time after the first true leaves emerge. If you leave them in the starter pots too long, the roots can get emeshed and it makes things harder to seperate.

Thanks. So you are talking about the first two pairs of leaves at the same level on the branch, right? Four leaves total. That's basically what I did last year. I just found slghtly bigger pots and, depending on the size of it, I would plant between 2-4 plants in each. Then I would eventually transplant them one more time to a big pot or to the garden. I have all kinds of old pots around. Do you think I should move the three inch two string chives to a larger pot now too?

This is why you use bio-degradable pots to start seedlings, which you just put into the next side and from there you won't have any problems transplanting. It depends on how much room you have in the pot you are using now. You can just let them grow more then transplant or now that is your choice. Don't know your zone but if you have 50-70 weather they should be outside. They should do fine this summer and may be re-transplanted this fall if they bunch up enough. The seeds they should produce will be much more viable seeds than you got from the stores. A Tablespoon is a good tool for transplanting small seedlings.

I left some winter starts in the small size way too long, but once I transplanted, they grew fine. I should have probably transplanted 3 weeks earlier than I did - they were really cramped, but no harm, no foul as they say.

Oh - and I've harvested a few leaves here and there way too early. They look great!

Thanks for the help, I was also curious about this subject.

Thanks for all the info. I am using one of those bio-degradable trays and have transplanted several plants to larger pots. Mostly four or six inch pots. I put 2-4 plants in each. I still have some left that I never transplanted in the original bio-degradable tray though. The problm is I already have over twenty pots. Lot of work but I love it. Planning on getting some stuff in the ground this week.