I'm getting lazier by the year. Faced with too many seedlings once again, I thought to myself Hey what if I just planted some directly into my Earthboxes now instead of potting up into 4 inch pots, then again into larger ones like I normally would do before the final planting?
I live in zone 10, night temps are around 50s now, daytime anywhere from low 60s to 70s. I usually pot up now since my tomato seedlings have their 1st and\or 2nd leaves, stems over 2 in tall so after I plant deep they'll be a bit over an inch. They grow quickly after planting into the EBs. I only have 4 places to plant in-ground, so for those spaces I plan to do the potting up maybe 2 times before planting.
What was the smallest seedling you have ever planted without repotting? For us in the warm zones what is really the purpose of repotting?

I don’t see anything wrong with your plan. I try to get my tomato seedlings and young plants outside in the sunshine as much as possible from day one, weather permitting and here in 9b Texas the weather permits more often than not. My first choice is always going to be with having the tomatoes outside in moving fresh air with sunshine/natural filtered light. The tomatoes in their early stages only go inside out of the weather if the weather is going to be harmful.

People, gardeners direct seed tomatoes here with success. So, the tomatoes are seeded, germinating, growing in their final position outside in the beds the entire time. Seems like anything with a bit of true leaves can be moved without issues.

Ok you've convinced me then! Yaaay I can skip repotting this year except for the plants I'll be giving away. Thanks @karstopography

I don't see any need for you to keep re potting your plants. I start many seeds in one cell and then pot them up just once. I use a large quart pot if I don't think they will be going into the garden soon. I do not allow my plants roots to get crowed. Like karstopography, I keep mine outside as much as possible. When I first started gardening, I direct seeded my plants into the garden. They all did fine. Once I got a computer I learned about starting them inside. I always had a few volunteers and I let them grow right along with those that I started. Back then, the only tomatoes that grew were Brandywine. To be honest, there was no difference in the size of the plants and there was only a few days to a week difference in when the first fruits were picked.

So my opinion is you only need to pot up once and you can also transplant them as soon as they have their first true leaf just to make handling them easier.

Hi Patti thanks for your input. I also do mass sowing of tomatoes, peppers & eggplants (in ultrasorb). They stay in their cells(actually small 3 to 4 in pots) until their first or second true leaves. So this year I'll skip potting up as mentioned above & per your suggestion I'll repot whatever's left over in quart sized pots, just once & be over with it.

By the way Patti I'm growing several of the varieties you so kindly send me. Can't wait to report on how they do

I have both potted up and direct seeded tomatos and many of the nightshade family before. All have done well without any really difference in the end, unless weather caught the direct seeded that I was pushing the time frame on, but that was my fault, not the method.When starting in cells, I shove in quite a bit of seed and seperate them when either potting up or planting out. Tomato seedlings are pretty tough and I am not the most delicate person at times, LOL. NCtomatoman used to have a great tutorial on how he started his seeds and it tends to be what I try to do, along with the early outside exposures to not have to harden off plants that are too delicate.

I am not a coddler on most things, I only warn my plants that they can be replaced if they don't get cracking along and produce !

Perhaps the location would be a determining factor. We who live in the northern reaches need to double pot before putting plants outside. My seeds go into one inch six paks with three or four seedlings per partition. Then into 2 1/2 inch larger individual pots. That does it until garden time. Without potting up the roots would be really cramped and the plants would be falling all over. I suppose they could be seeded into a large pot to begin with but that seems like a waste of space and mix. With cold temps right up to planting out time the big single pot method may work. Maybe it deserves a try.

NCtomatoman Craig posted a thread many years ago that he made a mistake not potting up to 4 inch saying the plants didn't grow as well.
He went straight to a larger container.
I honestly don't know how that could happen unless the soil got too damp and the root system not big enough to handle it.

I've had plants stunt out like that and had to remove the soil and plant in fresh dryer soil.
After that they took off again.

peebee wrote: ↑Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:23 pm I'm getting lazier by the year. Faced with too many seedlings once again, I thought to myself Hey what if I just planted some directly into my Earthboxes now instead of potting up into 4 inch pots, then again into larger ones like I normally would do before the final planting?
I live in zone 10, night temps are around 50s now, daytime anywhere from low 60s to 70s. I usually pot up now since my tomato seedlings have their 1st and\or 2nd leaves, stems over 2 in tall so after I plant deep they'll be a bit over an inch. They grow quickly after planting into the EBs. I only have 4 places to plant in-ground, so for those spaces I plan to do the potting up maybe 2 times before planting.
What was the smallest seedling you have ever planted without repotting? For us in the warm zones what is really the purpose of repotting?

I never pot up, for tomatoes. I don't think I've even ever done it once, unless you count transplanting into a big container outside the times I container gardened.

I make sure the soil has enough nutrients and that the initial containers aren't tiny.

peebee wrote: ↑Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:23 pm …
What was the smallest seedling you have ever planted without repotting? For us in the warm zones what is really the purpose of repotting?

Freshly germinated. That's not what I /normally/ do, but I don't have any compunctions about transplanting young plants if I have to. It can work.

Shule wrote: ↑Tue Mar 11, 2025 8:46 pm

peebee wrote: ↑Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:23 pm I'm getting lazier by the year. Faced with too many seedlings once again, I thought to myself Hey what if I just planted some directly into my Earthboxes now instead of potting up into 4 inch pots, then again into larger ones like I normally would do before the final planting?
I live in zone 10, night temps are around 50s now, daytime anywhere from low 60s to 70s. I usually pot up now since my tomato seedlings have their 1st and\or 2nd leaves, stems over 2 in tall so after I plant deep they'll be a bit over an inch. They grow quickly after planting into the EBs. I only have 4 places to plant in-ground, so for those spaces I plan to do the potting up maybe 2 times before planting.
What was the smallest seedling you have ever planted without repotting? For us in the warm zones what is really the purpose of repotting?

I never pot up, for tomatoes. I don't think I've even ever done it once, unless you count transplanting into a big container outside the times I container gardened.

I make sure the soil has enough nutrients and that the initial containers aren't tiny.

I usually add some combination of the following things to the potting mix:
- monopossium phosphate
- potassium sulfate
- wood ash
- monoammonium phosphate
- perlite

And I like to use actual indoor-outdoor potting soil instead of seed-starting mix, even though people recommend seed-starting mix. It seems more reliable for me.

I usually bring my plants outside most days during the day. They don't tend to get super big (since they're not super warm all the time), but they grow well post-transplant compared to ones I have grown big without taking them outside. I'd say even better.

The high phosphorus is due to the cold they face. They need more of it in this context. You don't need as much if your plants are nice and comfortably warm. I do take them in at night so they don't get very cold, but it's still spring weather during the day.

If you decide to take your plants outside as I described, you need to do it a lot and as soon as they sprout, or it might hurt them. I overseed and I only thin them a week or two after the transplant to help ensure survival of at least one seedling per cell.

Actually, last year, I just direct-seeded everything, and got volunteers, too. That's more recommendable with some varieties than others.

As you can see, I break a lot of rules. I don't necessarily recommend you do what I do, because there are risks if you don't do things just right. But experimenting can definitely help you learn what works.