Susan, Thanks for posting, very informative videos. This is the technique Dawn suggested me when I stated seeds indoor in early Feb. I am very happy with it! I have been little tough on seedling while transplanting to cups, but looks like they loved some manhandling. -Chandra

WOW

And I thought my 20 or so was a lot to handle.

Isn't that the truth? He does manhandle them. I was a bit taken aback when Dawn first suggested that, having always handled them like a delicate little flower. But now that I can actually SEE it being done, it makes a whole lotta sense to me.

Yes, mksmith, he plants a lot, but he sells his, too. I don't plant near the numbers that Craig does.

Susan

I prefer working with a damp potting mix because I think it gives a more evenly damp product, but that is just a matter of preference.

I totally disagree that the plants will do as well all bunched together. That is fine for starting the seeds, but soon afterward I think they need to be separated with only one to a container. I potted up my tomatoes on two consecutive nights and had about 12-14 left at bedtime. I planted all of them in one 4 inch pot and it was a week or so before I got them potted up. They were much, much, smaller than those that had been moved to their own container and it took a couple of weeks to catch up. Even now, I have a few that ended up with two in a pot and they are smaller than the other tomatoes that were separated. I suppose it depends on what you are trying to do, but I believe a plant with plenty of room will be a strong plant faster than those left together.

My take on it, Carol, was that Craig initially plants multiple seeds to a cell, and when transplanting, he divides up into single seedlings with one to a pot. If he has more left over, he then plants those 3 sets of 3 to a group, for planting later. I don't know whether he grows them to maturity this way, I got the idea it was just a temporary "holding" pot. For people like me, with limited space, it be a better option.

I just potted up some of mine, just one to a pot. But, I did use the initial multi-seed planting like Crsig does, and then I just teased the tiny seedlings apart and planted them one to a pot. It saves me space. But, I didn't do 40 seeds to a cell, just approx. 5-6.

Craig's been growing tomatos, peppers, and other veggies for a long time and I think he said he'd been doing it this way since 2002, so for quite a while. It's just another way of doing it if anyone's interested in using that method. I thought he was pretty darned quick with that thumb of his! LOL!

Susan

I don't think you can pot a tomato plant wrong. It is surprising what they can go through and still bounce back. We all have a method that we like, but a lot of that depends on what we have to work with and how many plants we pot.

They can take a licking and keep on ticking for sure. I am not delicate in handling mine but I don't punch them down with my thumb either. Of course, I'm not poking them into dry potting mix either.

My point was simply that I think they grow better when they are one to a pot, which is what he did with the first 15.