Tag Archives: transplants

Garden Advice

Transplanting: 9 Tips for Success

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This time of year is all about planting. We’re transplanting cabbages and broccoli this week in our zone, but soon it’ll be time to start setting out tomatoes, peppers, and other warm-weather crops. While transplanting is relatively straightforward, there are a few things you can do to ensure your seedlings grow successfully.

Hardening Off

The first thing you need to do is harden your seedlings off. Seedlings accustomed to the relatively stable conditions in your home just aren’t up to coping with the outdoors just yet. For best results, move your plants outside for a few hours each day, gradually increasing the time over a week or two. This process allows your seedlings to become accustomed to the sunlight, wind, outdoor air temperature.

Prepare Your Soil

Transplants do best when they have fertile, soft soil to grow in. You can prepare your bed by incorporating a couple of inches of finished compost and loosening the soil with a garden or broad fork. It’s also a good idea to dig a larger hole than your transplant needs and fill in around your plant with compost.

Choose an Overcast Day

Even though you’ve hardened off your seedlings, it’s best to plant them on an overcast day. Transplanting is a bit stressful for plants, and a lot of heat and sun can make it harder for them to recover quickly. If you have to transplant on a sunny day, you can use shade cloth or similar material to create a bit of temporary shade.

Water Before Planting

Ensure that your seedlings are watered well before planting, preferably paying extra close attention starting a day or two ahead of time. Dry seedlings will have a more difficult time recovering from transplant shock.

Newly transplanted leek.

Gently Break Up Roots

If you notice that your transplants are root bound, meaning the roots have formed around the container’s inside, it’s a good idea to break them up a bit gently. Gently pinch apart the bottom and sides of the roots in a few places. These breaks will encourage the roots to grow outward.

Proper Planting

For most crops, you should plant your seedlings so that the soil is at the same level as it was in the pot. However, tomatoes will grow roots from farther up their stem, so it’s helpful to buy them deeply. You can plant tomatoes so that their first set of leaves is just above the soil (if the first set is yellow or dying, remove it and plant up to the next set). Another exception is leeks which you should plant in a hole to create the nice white, blanched stems.

You can also give your plants a bit of extra help by creating a small basin around your transplant. The basin will help catch and hold water while the plant is young.

If you’re using peat pots or other pots that you plant into the ground, it’s essential to avoid leaving any sticking up. You may need to tear a bit of the top off the pot. Leaving any material such as peat pot or newspaper sticking out into the air can wick moisture away from the plant’s roots.

Press the Soil in Gently but Firmly

Once your plant is in the hole, you should gently but firmly press the soil around it. If you don’t press the soil in, you may leave air pockets around the plant, preventing root growth.

Give Your Plants a Boost

After you’ve got your transplants in, you’ll want to water them. If you can, it’s best to provide extra nutrients with the water. Liquid kelp or seaweed liquid fertilizer is excellent for this. You should follow package instructions, but you typically only add a tablespoon or two to every gallon of water. Alternatively, you can use mild compost tea. Water at the base of the plant and avoid pouring all over the leaves.

It Will Take Plants a Little While to Take Off

Don’t be worried if you don’t see a lot of new growth quickly. When you first plant your seedlings, they’ll be working hard to establish healthy root systems. This will happen before you get to see any foliar growth. However, once their roots are established, you should see good growth.

Spring planting is a fun time of year for many gardeners. It’s good to be out in the garden finally and starting to see plants on their way. Make sure that your seedlings transplant well this year by using these simple tips. Getting your plants off to a good start can help ensure a good harvest.

Garden Advice

3 Reasons to Transplant Lettuce

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Lettuce is a perfect crop for cool season gardening. The incredible array of varieties brings a colorful assortment to fall, winter, and spring meals. As you’re planting your fall crops there are a number of lettuces to choose from. You can sow loose leaf mixes, romaine, bibb, or crisphead lettuce. If you’re growing a heading variety you may want to consider starting your lettuce indoors and transplanting seedlings out.

  1. Better germination.

    Starting a fall garden often means seeding cool weather crops in hot weather. Starting seeds indoors, in a cool place typically means better germination rates. Lettuce doesn’t need light to germinate so you can set them in a basement or root cellar even if it’s dark until they germinate. Alternatively you can set them in the refrigerator for the first night.

  2. No wasted space.

    Having reliable, healthy seedlings means you waste less space in your garden. When you’re planting a fall garden you’re often dealing with restricted space, only planting what you have a cold frames, row cover, or a hoop house to protect. You also have a relatively small window to get crops started. Setting out transplants means that you can make the most of every square in of your garden. You won’t have patches where seed failed to germinate as we discussed above.

  3. More time.

    Having transplants started also means that that you have a little more leeway for when you plant. It’s essential to get fall crops started on time so that they get established before the temperatures drop.

 

Growing Transplants

Start your lettuce in flats or soil blocks of moist, quality potting mix. Keep them somewhere cool at least until they germinate. Once germinated your lettuce should be placed under lights or somewhere they get direct sunlight. Lettuce should be transplanted when the plants are between 2-3 inches tall.

Transplanting

You should harden off your lettuce plants 7-10 days before transplanting. Bring them outdoors for a few hours, increasing the length of time each day. Prepare your bed by loosening the soil and adding compost if available.

Plant your lettuce at the same depth as they were in the pot. Even if they’re leggy, don’t bury the stem. Lettuce stems won’t grow roots like tomatoes and some other plants. Water them in after planting and keep the soil moist especially as they get established. Be sure to have your season extenders ready to go in case of frost.

 

Garden Advice

8 Common Mistakes When Starting Seeds

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Starting seeds indoors is one of the best parts of gardening. You can finally get your hands in the soil after a winter break. A gardener’s shelf full of tiny seedlings is a sure sign that’s spring is on its way! Unfortunately as with everything in gardening growing transplants from seeds has its challenges. If you want to have awesome seedlings this year be sure to avoid these common mistakes.

Not providing supplemental light.

Unfortunately, setting your seedlings by a window probably isn’t going to give them enough light to become strong and healthy seedlings. Odds are they’ll become tall and spindly, reaching towards the light. You’ll have to provide them with some form of supplemental light. You don’t need to buy actual grow lights, simple garage or shop lights will do. You want the lights to be as close as possible to the tops of the plants without burning them. Setting up your lights so you can easily adjust their height as the plants grow is a great idea.

Not addressing a variety’s specific needs.

While many seeds are pretty simple to grow, just push it some dirt and water, others require a bit more care. Some seeds need to be soaked overnight before planting, some need light to germinate, while still others need to scarified. Always check package directions and do research as needed. 

Not hardening off your seedlings.

As your seedlings are accustomed to a climate controlled life indoors, they could succumb to shock if you decide to set them out without first acclimating them to their new environment. Start by setting them outside for just a few hours per day slowly adding time over the course of two weeks. This will allow them to adjust the intense sunlight, temperature, and wind. You can take this a step further by transplanting your seedlings on an overcast day so they don’t have to struggle with intense light on top of the shock of transplant.

Over or under-watering.

Seedlings should always be kept moist but they’ll rot if they’re just sitting in water. Whatever you plant your seedlings in should a hole or holes in the bottom and a tray underneath to catch any excess water. You also need to ensure that they don’t dry out completely which can happen surprisingly quickly as seedlings grow larger.

Not putting them somewhere noticeable.

Unless you’re a full-time market gardener it’s easy to forget about and neglect your seedlings. Setting up your shelf somewhere you walk by often will help you remember to care for them and make it easy for you to spot problems as soon as they arise. 

Not keeping them warm enough.

While some plants like spinach and lettuce germinate and grow well in cool weather, others like tomatoes and peppers like things pretty warm. If you notice that your seeds are taking a long time to germinate, are slow growing, or you live in a cool or drafty home you may want to invest in a heat mat. These can be placed underneath seedling trays and will help the soil stay at an optimum temperature. 

Using garden soil instead of a proper potting medium.

You don’t necessarily have to buy a potting mix but you do need something other than plain old garden soil. Potting mixes always include something like peat moss to hold some moisture but are also light so that they drain well. You can find many DIY recipes for potting soil on the internet. If you’re purchasing soil and want it to be organic look for something that’s OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certified.

Starting them too early and/or not potting them up.

If you start your plants too early they can outgrow your pots before your ready to plant them out. In this case, you’ll need to pot them up. If you don’t do this they can become root bound which may stunt their growth and weaken them.  

If you’ve struggled with growing your own transplants in the past being careful to avoid these common mistakes can help you have a productive garden this year. 

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