Salty Thumb wrote:
...Transplanting is good if you want to get a jump on the season and start
your seeds in a warmer location. Some plants (i.e. peppers) resent being
transplanted. In this case you would use a biodegradable container and
transplant the whole container to avoid disturbing the roots...


I've been transplanting peppers for a long time without problems (other
than things like cutworms). In fact for a couple years I bought pepper
plants that were shipped bare root. However, melons really benefit from
the peat pot or equivalent treatment. Also, peppers really like being
germinated in a warm location (like soil temperature 75F), so they
benefit from transplanting.

One more good reason to transplant: If you seed stuff, the weed seeds
have been in your seedbed for a year or more, are pre-moistened and
ready to go. All they need is to be brought up to the surface (e.g. by
tillage). Your seed has to sit for a while and absorb water to
germinate. Consequently the weeds frequently emerge before your plants.
In order to weed your plants you then have to recognize the immature
stages and differentiate them from the weeds, particularly for
slow-growing plants. (Things like beans present few problems since they
grow quickly.)

As soon as you transplant, the plants you want are bigger than the weeds
that are about to sprout and it is much easier to weed the crop since it
is obvious which is the plant you want to keep (as long as you get to
the weeding before the weeds outrun the crop).