seedlings very close together...plan of action?

ok heres the situation: I have about 20 little plastic cups with seedlings in them (about a week old). I want to transplant them into 5 gallon buckets. But, in some of the cups, there are two seedlings (i guess i put an extra in some) very close to each other, almost touching. One is about two inches and the other is about one. The stems are basically touching in the center of the cup...what should i do? Should i just snip the smaller one with scissors and save the bigger one, or should i try to, somehow, get a spoon or something in there and seperate the root systems, and then transplant. Also, do you guys use rooting mixture (rootone, etc). I have heard it helps alot, but isnt necessary. One last question (but less important): what is about the stage of a plants life where you can be pretty sure that it will survive (of course excluding idea of theft, detection or whatever). Mine are seedlings now, and i feel that everything will kill them - wind, rain, frost, etc. . When can i ease my mind a little and know that they will probably work from then on. or: if they are working now....does that mean they will survive until harvest? one or two of them is on the "lean" laying over from last nights storm, i might stake them up, should they be ok? I try to research before posting, but this is just bothering me and i dont know what to search for to find the answerr. thanks

 

You could try with a spoon to dig up the multiple seedlings. At this stage their roots shouldn't be intertwined BUT at this stage they are also very delicate.
If you have more seeds, cut off the smaller of the 2 plants off at the surface level with scissors and start new seeds in new cups.

Rooting compounds are for clones.

In my guerilla growing thread I tell how to make free mini-greenhouses.

After a few weeks the plants will be able to cope with bad weather better, but you're still gonna have to have a game plant to protect the plants against deer & other herbivores.

 

Leave Them Be And Let Them Fight To The Death