How to Deal with Multiple Seedlings in one Pot

Seedlings are great for short-season gardeners. They help us to extend the growing season upfront. In this blog article, we are looking into how to deal with multiple seedlings in one pot.

With good seeds, we often get a 100% germination rate. Since we plant about 2-3 seeds per pot, we end up with 2-3 plants in one pot to ensure we get at least one plant. Seed germination depends on the age of the seeds. Different types of seeds have different shelf life. Read more here about seed storage and shelf life.

The same is true for seedlings from a garden center. The number of seeds planted and sold in one container varies greatly. Often, there is more than one plant in one seedling pot. Take a close look; what you think is one seedling might be multiple plants. As a first-time gardener, do not assume they should be planted together if a greenhouse sells multiple plants in one seedling. There is a ‘too close’ for some plants.

Let’s look at what plants can be planted together and, if not, how to separate multiple seedlings to get the most out of it.

How many seeds to plant in one container

Note that this blog article does not discuss starting seeds in one seed tray and pricking out (transplanting) the healthiest seedlings. That is a method to avoid multiple seedlings in one container. Follow the link to read more about it. Here, we are looking into how to deal with multiple seedlings in one pot to get the best results.

Types of plants that can be grown together because they like growing in a group and seedlings that can be easily separated can all be planted in one starter pot. The advantage is that you will need less seedling pots, potting mix, heating mats, and space to grow them, especially if you use a grow light. It can save you time, work, and money. To utilize this advantage is a great idea.

For plant varieties to grow in a cluster, plant 5-6 seeds in one hole to keep 3-4 plants to be grown together. For plants, I know I will be separating; square pots are a good choice. Planting 1-2 to keep one in each corner makes for easy separation. A larger pot is usually not needed; keep them for larger plants.

For plants that do not like to grow together or separate easily, plant one for large and 2-3 tiny seeds. Larger seeds usually have better germination and need more space to grow. Using larger containers for them is also a good idea.

Once the seedlings have a second set of leaves, remove the extra seedlings to the number of plants you want to keep, giving the remaining seedlings more space to grow into healthier plants. Read more about starting seeds indoors here. 

What multiple seedlings can be kept together?

Bulb plants like onions, beets, and radishes love growing together. These vegetables can be sown and grown in clumps. You need to give enough room for a cluster to grow; otherwise, they seem to like the company.

Kohlrabi is another bulb plant that can be grown together. Sometimes, in a cluster, one plant will be dominant and much bigger than the other.

For a home garden, extending the harvesting window is a good option. Cut away the big bulb, leaving the small one to grow larger.

Herbs also do not seem to mind growing together. Use common sense here; if you have an herb cluster that looks like a dozen plants, it is better to separate them. If it’s just a few, they might be happy together. In our experience, herbs are easy to separate, so you get more out of a cluster.

Which multiple seedlings can be easily separated?

Nightshade family plants, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and ground cherries, grow roots along the stem. That’s why we can grow tomatoes from cuttings.

Nightshade plants are probably the most forgiving to be separated, but if possible, do it as long as the seedlings are young. If you get multiple seedlings in one pot from a greenhouse, separate them immediately and let them build more roots in a bigger pot before planting them in the garden.

If the seedlings do not grow too close, you can even pull out the additional plant without disturbing the roots from the primary seedling. Water the plant well (it should be muddy), then gently pull the extra seedling and plant it immediately into a separate pot, burying more of the stem.

Cabbage family plants also respond well to being separated. Except for kohlrabi, none of them do well when planted together. So it is worth it to separate the seedlings to get more healthy plants.

If you do winter sowing, separating the seedlings is a must. By design, we plant more than one seed into the little greenhouse containers. Separating the seedlings beforehand is also worth it if you get better-than-expected germination. Seedlings growing too close will be weaker but recover quickly when separated and planted into individual pots and grow into healthy plants.

You can skip the pots and plant directly into the garden soil if the weather is overcast and calm to reduce plant stress. Note also that small plants respond better to being separated than large plants. If the weather permits and the seedlings have true leaves, plant them out.

What plants do not respond well to being separated?

Cucurbitaceae are plants like cucumber, watermelon, musk melon, summer squash, and winter squash. These plants are susceptible; they do not like cold soil and do not tolerate any frost; they also dislike transplanting.

If you get more than one plant in one pot, cut them off without disturbing the primary seedling. Be very gentle with the seedling, and do not disturb the roots. It is hard to cut off a healthy seedling, but planting them together will yield less than one healthy seedling would.

That being said, I have successfully separated and planted cucumbers. If you are confident and know what you are doing, go for it. But as a beginner, keeping one plant per Cucurbitaceae seedling is a good idea. Cucumber seedlings can also be started in peat pots; read more here. Or in a bottomless pot for easy transplanting, read more here.

How to separate and plant a seedling

A picture says more than a thousand words, and a video says even more, right? So we took you with us into the garden and filmed the process.

 

Here are the 8 steps to separate and plant multiple seedlings:

1 Water the seedling well.

2 Prepare and water the hole so the moist soil embeds the bare roots.

3 Take the seedling out of the pot by turning the pot upside down. If needed, push slightly against the wall.

4 Starting from the top, gently separate the plants. The goal is not to keep the soil on the roots but to keep the roots intact.

5 Place each seedling into the prepared hole. If you have more than you got holes, keep the seedling in the pot.

6 Plant each seedling, holding it up so the roots hand down into the hole. Push the soil gently down to avoid air pockets.

7 Water well. An important thing is not to water just the top of the soil, but each single plant well in.

8 If it is sunny, shade the seedlings with a shade blanket to avoid direct sunlight for a few days.

Happy planting!

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