Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on May 18, 2020 8:42:49 GMT -5
I originally posted this in my geranium thread, but I thought this How To could use it's own thread.
When you have two or three seedlings in a pod and want to save the extras: 1. Push the sponge above the basket so you can see the stems. 2. Hold the seedling by the stem and gentle pull it straight up until it is out of the sponge. 3. In a sponge that you have soaked overnight, cut a slit with scissors from the hole to the bottom of the sponge. 4. Hold the sponge open, and place the stem of the plant in the slit. 5. Place the sponge in a basket with a label. 6. Insert the basket in an Aerogarden hole. 7. Unless the root was too severely damaged, you should soon have a healthy new plant. Update: I have found it easier to slit the original pod to remove the extra seedling instead of trying to pull it up without breaking the roots. |
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Post by kcloud6xx on Jan 9, 2021 12:41:08 GMT -5
When would/could I do this?
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,266 
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Post by Shawn on Jan 9, 2021 12:52:30 GMT -5
When would/could I do this?
Hello and Welcome.
If you have the room in a machine and extra cages and sponges I would think you could do it at any time. However I have not done it myself so...
What machine(s) do you have and what do you having growing?
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gsaxon
AGA Sprout
Outdoor gardener forever, recent Aerogarden addict!
Posts: 225
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Post by gsaxon on Jan 9, 2021 13:20:13 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing this! Sher I will do this next time since I normally just throw the smaller seedling away. |
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Post by shevraeth on Jan 9, 2021 14:32:01 GMT -5
I do see a benefit if you plant your own seeds and don't plant a lot of seeds in each pod (for example, Aerogarden puts 5-6 seeds in each pod, but I only plant 2 when I plant my own because I feel bad about plant culling lol). Let's say I plant three pods of finicky pepper seeds, like Carolina Reapers, and pod 1 sprouts two seeds, pod 2 sprouts 1 seed, and pod 3 sprouts none. I can move the extra from pod 1 to pod 3 and now I have the three plants I wanted instead of planting more seeds in pod 3 and having them developing behind the other two.
For the most part though, we usually plant the number of pods we want so we don't have to do that unless it's a quirk, as described above. If you want five basil plants, it makes sense to start five basil pods from the get go rather than having to go through this effort of transplanting them.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Jan 9, 2021 15:44:49 GMT -5
shevraeth , several times I have planted all the pods in an Aerogarden, and one or more pod failed to germinate.
So instead of leaving an empty space, I have been able to grow in all of them.
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Post by clumsythumbs on Jan 9, 2021 18:09:47 GMT -5
Great tutorial! I have often saved seedlings in similar cases... when one pod did not germinate; often with longer growing time (tomato, peppers) I will try to save any that germinated. Great info!
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Post by shevraeth on Jan 10, 2021 0:14:50 GMT -5
Indeed, which is what my first paragraph was explaining. I had meant to reply to the person asking why we do this, but apparently that didn't show up for some reason.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Jan 10, 2021 7:44:22 GMT -5
Indeed, which is what my first paragraph was explaining. I had meant to reply to the person asking why we do this, but apparently that didn't show up for some reason.
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