growing from seed

ok, so maybe a stupid question. i am growing things like tomatoes and green beans from seeds. Typiclly i put 2-3 seeds per peat moss pod. I have noticed that most of the seeds germinate in every pod.. should i cut 2 or the 3 out and just have one plant? or just leave them all in? i know if you buy a tomato plant from a store it will have just one plant in there. I hate to waste them if I dont have to, but i also want to grow them properly..

i am very new to gerdening, so this may be a silly question for most of you.

thanks in advance

Not a silly question at all. Everyone has a different method. I think you could keep all two or three if you carefully separate them and repot. I tried peat pots once and did not like them...if you are using peat pellets I guess you can't separate the roots so would have to pinch out all but one. I grow several things from seed and make wooden flats to do so. When I transplant from these I am able to gently separate the roots and all survive. I think we are 'sold' a lot of unncessary planting equipment. Everyone used to grow in flats and then transplant to a pot or into the garden. I make the flats out of one by four pine boards to fit whatever size tray I can find to set underneath to water from. The bottom is one quarter inch hardware cloth or screen and lined with plain paper.
One of the joys of seed saving is almost perfect germination, so there is no need to plant two or three to a pot. Later when the plants are larger I do select for hardiness and type, etc.
I would plant green beans right in the garden at the proper distance and not try to transplant at all.
Dont hesitate to ask any question here!

Judith Browning wrote:Not a silly question at all. Everyone has a different method. I think you could keep all two or three if you carefully separate them and repot. I tried peat pots once and did not like them...if you are using peat pellets I guess you can't separate the roots so would have to pinch out all but one. I grow several things from seed and make wooden flats to do so. When I transplant from these I am able to gently separate the roots and all survive. I think we are 'sold' a lot of unncessary planting equipment. Everyone used to grow in flats and then transplant to a pot or into the garden. I make the flats out of one by four pine boards to fit whatever size tray I can find to set underneath to water from. The bottom is one quarter inch hardware cloth or screen and lined with plain paper.
One of the joys of seed saving is almost perfect germination, so there is no need to plant two or three to a pot. Later when the plants are larger I do select for hardiness and type, etc.
I would plant green beans right in the garden at the proper distance and not try to transplant at all.
Dont hesitate to ask any question here!

Yea, i think if i try to seperate them, i may rip too many roots out and they might all die...

Joshua, You are not the only beginner here and any question you ask may be one that someone else would love to ask but was afraid to. So you ask away !
If you are getting good germination than next time you could just use one seed per pot. Maybe do a few extras just in case. For now you can just plant the whole pot with two or three in it ,if you are not sure that they will make it through a separation. I have done this many times in my life and for the same reason.
Don't worry , be happy!

My tomato seedling regime is quite labour-intensive. Our summer is generally shortish and not that hot, and I start everything pretty early.
Seeds broadcast in screened compost in plasic icecream cotainers with drainage holes.
Mark the names!
When the seedlings get their first set of 'true leaves' ie, proper tomato leaves, rather than generic-looking 'leaves'.
I dig the plants out with a butter knife, separate them and bury them in individual pots of screened compost right up to the new leaves.
Tomatoes will grow new roots from any areas that touch the soil, and the more roots, the better.
I generally pot-up twice: at true-leaf stage, and when the plant gets larger and 'leggy' again.

Joshua,
I have had success in the past using a sharp knife to cut through the root ball between the two plants. I have rarely lost a plant this way. The shock seems to be minimal.
I just repotted tomatoes and took the "doubles" apart manually, slowly teasing and pulling the roots apart. I'm not sure that was as successful. Some look pretty sad. Another few days will tell.

Successful separation may all depend on how large the plants are. I pot from a flat to individual pots soon after the plant has it's true leaves and the roots pull apart easily and for tomatoes even better if my soil is just slightly dry.

A thumbs up for growing in deep flats like Judith said. I use 1' x 2' x 5.5" of rough cedar fence boards. Another advantage is that the large mass of earth doesn't dry out like the little pots. Eliot Colman's New Organic Grower has a great trick for precision pot seeding (when you're trying to conserve from small packets, where you use a wet toothpick to pick up seeds, and then press them into the soil. The water on the toothpick is enough to pick up the seed but the moisture in the pot has greater adhesion and the seeds stays behind when your toothpick leaves to get another seed.

One trick with tomatoes is to plant three together and deep!! They will be very strong needing less propping!!

Natural Selection.

You might waste an extra 89 cents but if you only keep the biggest/healthiest one and kill the rest.
You end up with a better crop, with less labor and less organic insecticide.