Step I of the Seedling Saga is complete and Step II is underway — the little blighters (hmmm, maybe that’s not a good thing to say of seedlings) have moved on to bigger and better accommodations in mini plant pots of their own.

They started in peat pucks and those that have showed some sign of living up to their potential have graduated to small, individual pots. That’s Step II.

Near the beginning of my experiment, I was gifted with a huge, dusty, abandoned apple box FULL of mini starter pots when The Scientist spotted and salvaged them, thinking I might have a use for them. How serendipitous! They sure came in handy when it was time for my seedlings to move out of community housing.

I haven’t used nearly a fraction of them, so I’ve passed a few on to a fellow urban gardener-in-the-making.

So far I’ve learned this about seedlings:

1. Some seeds will sprout, some will not. Ours is not to know the reasons why.
2. Some sprouts will thrive in their new individual lodgings, some need more time in the mini greenhouse with their friends, in order to thrive.
3. No matter how sturdy those zucchini sprouts look, one clumsy, misplaced movement and they’ll snap.
4. Zucchini are impressive sprouters, acorn squash not as much, spaghetti squash wholly unimpressed with the housing and not cooperating.
5. Ignore the “rules” to clip the weaker of the sprouts and keep only one per peat puck — who’s to say in the early days if you clipped the right one. Keep them all until they are sturdy enough to trade up.