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| Seedlings "hardening" outdoors on the covered patio |
Saturday, April 8, 2023
This is the time of year that many small plants are getting planted in backyard gardens. Here are some tips for giving your seedlings and transplants the best chance at surviving and thriving from the move to the garden.
For almost all of us that have started plants from seed indoors, we have experienced the sadness of our cute little seedling that we nurtured for weeks croaking after planting outdoors. For myself, I can name a few reasons for the premature death of my seedlings. Here they are along with tips for successful transplanting.
1. Transplanting a seedling in a season too cold or too hot for when it likes to grow. A good example is cilantro. Cilantro does not like heat. If you buy seedlings late in the season and transplant them into your full sun garden, they can quickly die or if they survive, they will immediately bolt into a flower stalk with no harvestable leaves. Cilantro should be planted in early spring when temperatures are cool. So first tip, only plant in the season that your veggie likes to grow.
2. Transplanting near other plants that put out toxins in their roots. Some trees like walnut and hickory and some plants like sunflowers put out exudes in their roots that are toxic to other plants. Tree roots just by themselves can rob the vegetation near the tree of moisture and nutrients they need to thrive. If your space is limited to those near trees, you can use raised beds with protected bottoms to keep tree roots from infiltrating the veggie's soil.
3. Transplanting into an area of the garden that the plant does not get what it needs to thrive. For example, fruiting vegetables like tomatoes need lots of direct sunlight to get big and bushy to support the energy needed to produce fruits. Planting where they will only get a few hours of sunlight will result in weak plants that will struggle to produce fruits. Another example is planting cool temperature loving plants in the hottest part of the garden. Think southern exposure with no shade. Crops like lettuce do enjoy 6-8 hours of full sun but produce longer with sweeter leaves if given afternoon shade. If you grow in pots, you can have the pots with southern exposure until it warms up and then move to the east or north where it will be cooler in the afternoons.
4. Transplanting seedlings with weak stalks. If you handle seedlings by their stalk, you can crush the stalk which will kill the seedling. Handle the seedling by its leaves if the stalk is thin. If you transplant a seedling that has a weak stalk on a windy day or week, the wind can blow the seedling stalk in half, killing the seedling.
5. You'll have the best luck "hardening" the seedling to outdoor conditions gradually before planting in its permanent spot. Take your seedlings outdoors when it is warm, gradually increasing the exposure to the sun and wind. Like us, plants need to build up protection from the rays of the sun. Exposure to wind causes the seedling to strengthen its stem. You can gently brush your seedlings indoors daily or put a small fan to blow over your seedlings to mimic the outdoor wind.
6. Breaking the roots of the seedling as you are removing from their growing pot to put them in the ground. Be as careful as you can to remove the entire root ball of the seedling. Their root system isn't very robust when small.
7. Transplanting too soon. It is best to wait until your seedlings have at least their second set of leaves. This signals that the seedlings root system is robust enough to support on-going growth.
8. Transplanting on a full sun day. Even after hardening, the transplanting process is hard on a seedling. I look for cool, shady days to transplant to give the plant some time to adjust before getting hit with the full power of all day sunshine.
9. Not giving the transplant the water and nutrients it needs when you plant them. I like to give the seedlings a good watering before I transplant them. At transplant time, I add char, worm castings and a balanced organic fertilizer and mix into the soil of the planting hole before adding the seedling. After planting, I water again and keep an eye on them daily for the first few days to make sure they are getting the moisture they need. If a nice, slow rain comes the day after planting, this is the optimum for the transplant!
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