AusBonsai

hi all.

about 3 weeks ago i planted a bunch of native seeds 9 pods each of CASUARINA equisetifolia, GREVILLEA robusta, LEPTOSPERMUM rotundifolium, MELALEUCA nesophila. most have sprouted now but a few of the grevillea and casuarinas are lagging a bit.
planted in a jiffy box only adding a small layer of propagating sand to cover the seeds in the pods.
when i planted them, one of my arms was in a cast so i just kind of poured seeds into small holes i made in the cocoa peat pods, so some ended up with possibly up to 10 seeds per pod.

problem is it looks like every single seed that went in seems to want to have a go at living. so my question is what do now? should i pick 1 sprout per pod and kull the others, or will the strongest just eventually kill the others off anyway?
nd my other question is when would be the best time to transfer them over to some more nutrient soil?

)one of the mel pods pictured)

Leaving all the seedlings will cause them to compete leading to slower than optimum growth. I would get rid of the excess to allow one to grow better. It might be possible to transplant some of the culls into individual pots. You actually need very few roots for small seedlings to survive. They will grow (almost like tiny cuttings) with just a trace of root at the base, and sometimes without any as a tiny cutting.

Jiffy pots have very limited nutrient. You should start using liquid fert as soon as they germinate. Transfer them to lager pots with proper potting mix as soon as you are satisfied that they are growing, possibly as soon as this weekend but, as with most living things, they will be resilient so anytime in the next few weeks will do as long as you can keep them damp and fed in the meantime.

thanks shibui.
i havent been feeding them at all yet so thats good to know,
il do the kull and give some native powerfeed this afternoon, and probably look at transplanting to small pots over the weekend, then leave them in the shade under my benches for a few weeks.

No too much shade and definitely not for more than a week or so. Most natives like plenty of sun and deteriorate if kept in the dark.