seedlings ? How big before thinning out ?

[stacey2009]

How big do most seedlings have to be before you start thinning out ? most my packets just say when big enough but i'm a complete newbie i'm worried about doing it to soon. Some of my seedlings have been shot through about a week now and look healthy is it the right time to move them ?

[taff]

what seedlings are they?
Thinning is just pulling some out or nipping off the two leaves so that the others have more room to grow.
A lot of stuff can be thinned a few times, lettuce, rocket, carrots etc. Transplanting seedlings, depending on what they are, is a bit of a delicate operation, handle by the leaves, not the stalk.
If you're thinning to eat the thinnings, then when they're big enough to eat. Carrots, about half a little finger size, lettuce at a few leaves stage etc.

[stacey2009]

lettuce and carrots mainly ?

[taff]

Thin carrots when they first come up if they're crowded, lettuce too. Just nip off the two leaves with your nails, don't bother trying to pull them out, you'll disturb the roots of the other ones.

When they get a bit bigger, and look like they're touching each other, thin again, and so on. Try and thin every other one, so that you can eat the thinnings of the lettuce say, while leaving the other ones to grow bigger.
Carrots, much the same, but they need a bit less space between them than lettuce do, depending on the variety, and they'll take longer before you get to eat the thinnings