When the seedlings appear after sowing the various plants, you will need to prick them out if they grow too dense. How the rules look like is explained in the following article.

In a nutshell

  • Pricking out means nothing more than separating the seedlings and thus offering more space
  • after two to four weeks, the first two cotyledons appear and herald the time for pricking out
  • pricking is only necessary if several seeds have been placed in a seed pot
  • if a seedling is pricked out, it then receives fresh substrate that corresponds to the nutrient requirements of the plant
  • pricked out plant temporarily in a larger container until planting out

Optimal preparation

If pricking has to be done, appropriate material is required in advance. Because the seedlings are very delicate and could quickly be damaged in the process. The preparation before sowing is also important here:

  • use pricking or growing soil for seeds
  • provide nutrient-rich soil for seedlings that have already been pricked out
  • Potting soil contains no peat and few nutrients
  • small pots to about eight inches high
  • small watering can with spray attachment
  • allows careful watering
  • prick stick
  • alternatively coffee spoons or ice sticks
Material needed for pricking

Notice: When pricking, you should never work with tweezers. Because this could bend the stem or tear off roots in the soil, which would result in the inevitable death of the seedlings.

Choose the ideal time

It is very important to pay attention to the right time when the seedlings should be pricked out. Because when the seedlings begin to disturb each other, it is often too late for healthy and strong growth of a single plant:

  • about two to four weeks after sowing
  • also depends on the plant species
  • each requires a different germination time
  • as soon as the first two or three leaves appear

Tip: If the breeding pot with the seed is warm, then you can assume that a new leaf will grow back every week after germination. That means three sheets in three weeks.

Proceed carefully

If a seedling is pricked out, then above all caution is required here, since the small plants are very delicate and can be damaged quickly:

  • poke the soil next to the seedling with a spoon or pricking stick
  • deep enough
  • dig up from below with roots upwards
  • ideally do not touch with your fingers
  • Leaves could tear off
  • Stems could break
Scattered tomato seedling

shorten roots

If the seedlings were removed from the potting soil with a pricking stick or a spoon, the roots should be slightly shortened:

  • select only strong plants
  • discard all others
  • Carefully and lightly remove soil from roots
  • here shorten roots by about a third
  • this stimulates renewed root growth
  • Root ball becomes dense and strong

Fresh substrate

After germination in potting soil and pricking out, the seedlings should receive fresh substrate. This must contain the nutrients that the plants need for healthy growth:

  • pay attention to the nutrient requirements of the individual plants
  • choose suitable soil
  • alternatively mix garden soil with compost
  • fill larger pots with this
  • small, deep hole in the middle
  • place one seedling in each pot
  • Depth of insertion depends on plant species
Prepare fresh substrate

Tip: The small plants remain in this pot until they can move to their pre-selected location. This depends on the respective plant species and the prevailing climate. Plants that are to be cultivated in the container can be transplanted into it immediately after pricking out.

frequently asked Questions

What exactly does pricking mean?

This is nothing more than separating the sown plants. If several seeds have been placed in a seed pot, the small plants will later take up space from each other. To prevent this, the plants are placed apart, each given a larger pot with more space.

Do I have to prick out every plant that is sown?

Whether vegetables, flowers or other plants. If several seeds were placed together in a seed pot to germinate here, then after a few weeks, when the first seedlings appear, you cannot avoid pricking out.

What do I do with a seedling that won't grow?

If several seeds have been planted in a pot, it often happens that one or the other seedling does not grow any larger. You can remove these completely instead of pricking out and transplanting, because the resulting plants will continue to be stunted and, in the case of useful plants, will also not bring any yields.

How can I avoid having to prick out the seedlings?

This is actually quite easy, but it takes a little more space at the beginning because you have to set up more seed pots. Then you can put one or two seeds in each pot, assuming that only one of the seedlings will be strong enough. The other, stunted one, can then simply be removed.

How long can the small plants stay in potting soil?

The rules for this are that the potting soil is only suitable for the first three to four weeks. Because this has few nutrients, so the roots of a seedling in search of such spread and grow quickly. After that, however, the seedling needs more nutrients to thrive. Therefore, all seedlings should be transferred to fresh, nutrient-rich substrate after about three to four weeks.

Category:

Garden plants