The urge to move at the speed of light is a curse shared by most if not all gardeners. We want to plant everything, supercharge its growth, harvest, and start the process over. But there are times when a little TLC, a slower pace to foster development, can pay bigger dividends in the end.

Sometimes it’s beneficial to pot up young starts rather than transplanting them directly. Potting up provides an opportunity to replace some of the soil with new nutrient rich soil, increase the space for roots to develop, and allow for the separation of plants potted together.

Select a trio of varieties for a comparison trial. Start six seeds of each variety in standard seed starting cells. Transplant each variety to larger 4-inch pots when the starts have developed their first set of true leaves. When they reach a height 3X that of the 4-inch pot, transplant again to gallon posts.

Compare the root development and time to each transplant for all three varieties. Make comparisons about which variety grows the fastest and has the best root development.