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From Seedling To Mature Transplant

© Diana Morgan

This is the last in the series of articles on starting plants from seed. Transplanting, hardening off, and setting the plants out can be a fussy business; but is the most important part. Without proper care you loose plants. I always plant more than I need, expecting to have some loss either from poor germination, damping off disease, rough handling when transplanting, or outright killing them when I try to harden them off.

Once your seeds sprout remove any "greenhouse" covers. When the seedlings have two pair of leaves they can be transplanted. Most of your plants can stay in the same pot until transferred outdoors, but some plants that grow rapidly will need transplanting. Also, any tiny seeds you plant will probably emerge in clumps because of the difficulty of sowing them evenly and will require separation.

Transplanting is a persnickety task made easier with a plastic picnic fork. Break off all but the two middle tines producing a miniature spading fork. Prepare the receiving pots with moist potting mix and poke holes in the soil deep and round enough to hold the roots of the transplants without scrunching them up. A pencil makes an excellent miniature dibble.

Next, grasp the seedling by a leaf (never by the stem), dig your fork into the soil next to the plant, and go clear to the bottom of the pot. Pry up gently with the fork while lifting the plant by its leaf. The roots should glide out intact. Set the plant in its ready-made hole at the same depth it grew in the old pot. Gently firm the soil around it.

Clumps of seedlings pose a problem. The plants can't grow on well crowded up against each other, but separating them can be tricky. Using your fork remove the whole clump and set it down on the work surface. With the tip of a tine gently tease the roots apart. Remove individual plants one at a time, holding them by a leaf and freeing each with the fork.

Tomatoes, peppers, and perennial flowers benefit from potting up. This means moving the plants to successively larger pots as they grow. I like to start the seeds of these plants in single 2" pots. As soon as they seem big enough I move them to 4" pots. Sure signs a plant needs potting up are roots coming through the drainage hole, legginess, or growth slows or stops.

The copyright of the article From Seedling To Mature Transplant in New England Gardens is owned by Diana Morgan. Permission to republish From Seedling To Mature Transplant in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.