Transplanting

 Thinning

Gardyn's reccommends thinning once there are true leaves (also when to move plants from nursary to system with fertilizer). While the recommendation is to snip the extras off, clearly many users pull them out (risking root damage to all), and replant them. While it is possible to buy seedless ycubes or other options, I am starting with trying to reuse materials from failed or finished plants. Sometimes I spray them with H2O2 and usually I let them dry out. I have not tried baking them to sanitize them. My initial attemps involved poking a hole in the rockwook and putting the sprout in. Spouts are delicate things and often get hung up and the delicate stem breaks. Tried wrapping them around the tool used to make the hole, again with mixed success. For one of my recent attemps the stonewool had been rearranged around a large tap root. Therefore I rolled a sheet of it around the root. That seems less error prone. It does open the door to questions like how much rockwool is necessary and such. Also 4 parsley plants cracked the holder, begging the question of is it still usable. My gut has me putting the remaining plant in the system as I would following the instructions. However I have been giving my culled thinnings a "week" to get used to thier new home and to get stronger.

Making space

I still have a long way to go on figuring out the timing of succession planting.  My current process is to start a few ycubes when I refresh - about every two weeks. I put them in a a bowl with a little water on my heated bathroom floor. When my extra sprouts survive I have a bit of a surplus.

So the obvious spots are greens that have bolted. They have started trying to flower. They often get much taller rather than leafier. They taste often gets bitter. This is fairly obvious on lettuces and mustards. If I don't have anything ready to go in, I might let it flower, but I'd rather get food than try for seeds. On the herbs, I seem to have good luck with pruning the flower buds. Since I had started another dill, I decided the mature one was to go. Is it done, or can it have a new life outside in the dirt?

Clearly the chives outside are up and budding, so I don't need those inside now.  And the transplant of  thinned parsley was successful, so I have two cubes. And the broken ycube had 4 plants which I split apart. Wouldn't it be nice to have some at the shore? 

Also it is time to get rid of the last thing I don't like to eat, the sweet pepper. Sorry. It was a nice solid bush with a bunch of little green peppers and lots of flower buds. Hopefully it will continue to thrive with my neighbor in a pot.

The shore

So I pulled the plants out of the system, the ypods, and the ycubes, leaving the rockwool. If I the plant is done for I trim the roots down to the cube before taking the rockwool out. However if you want the plant to survive this seems unfriendly. (Actually the regular pruning of the roots to keep them in the ypod is also uncomfortable. Especially since I am used to  pruning  the top too  when replanting in dirt.)

Really can't get it out without pruning what is growing out the sides. Those have all tangled with what is growing out the bottom so a seriously reduced amount of roots.  I made a point of harvesting some of the parsley.

I put some of the recent extra thinings in, I thinned some more and put the strong ones in. All very cyclical.

However what it was not was fast. I left the plants in thier home until the last possible hour. It was approaching lunch time by the time I got out the door. That would result in painful traffic on a Saturday during high season. While driving down it occured to me the watering of the seedlings is not automated and my current process is poorly suited to being away for a week. The seedlings seem too delicate to transport easily.

Plants in thier new home with a gallon of water. It rained last night after they were planted too. However there is a frost warning for tonight. I am supposed to wait until May 15.  ok, I uprooted a chive bunch and a parsely and gave them the the same neighbor as I gave the pepper figuring she'd take better care of them in her yard than this absentee would.

 I am mentally crossing my fingers. It's all an experiment.