When is the right time to transplant?

First time grower. I have a few plants growing from seeds. They are getting up there in height, I want to say the tallest one is 6 or 7 inches.The cups they are in right now are, I think, 12oz or so. When is the optimal time to move them to the 5 gallon buckets I have waiting for them? I know you shouldnt wait too long, but from what I've gathered, there is an optimal time to leave them in a small container before you move them to the larger, so they use up as many nutrients as possible (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Also, is it a good idea to have 2 plants sharing a container? I have an 18 gallon tote that I'm going to transplant into, is it wise to put two in there?

 

Once your seedling has 5-7 growing days in the cup, you can transplant it anytime to it's larger container. So I would say you sound ready. I have not heard of any optimal time that you asked about, but I do wonder, what are you using for your growing mediums? Are you transplanting to the same type of medium that you germinated in?

 

Started in soil, moving to soil. I've been reading that it's good to let it get a little bit root bound, just enough so that the soil stays completely together when you move it out of it's container, and it has learned to use everything good in the soil. But I wonder how do I tell when it gets to that point?

 

make sure the cup have holes in the bottom..
are they Styrofoam 12oz ? .. you can probable let them live for about a month in them, as you said the roots will ball, about a month this might be the best time..

Its just a plant.. Its really not that difficult..

 

Ha, it's so intimidating to do this right.

It's not styrofoam (I'm a pretentious, over-informed college student. I dont mess with Styrofoam) just paper cups, I hope thats not bad news. They went into dirt on 9/13, so a month is coming up.

Now, what about 2 plants in one container? Good idea, bad idea, or neutral idea?

 

paper is good... ,, I use vacuum cleaner bags for outside transplants sometimes, the bags just fall apart.. but last long enough tucked in tubs to make it..

 

Depends on the size of the container. If it's that 18 gallon tote you spoke of, 2 plants will be fine.

Let us know how they do.

 

nah, I always use seperate pots, root systems can get massive.

 

Ya, it makes everything easier. So OP, I wouldn't recommend it but you can do it. You can probably fit like 10-12 plants in that 18 gallon tote if you wanted. You wouldn't get much off each plant though. So just stick to individual pots.

 

So how your plants going?

 

:/ Had to uproot them.