Thursday, May 13, 2010



Transplanting Tips

For many gardeners, May is the biggest transplanting month. A seedling’s move to the outdoors can be traumatic. Here are some tips to minimize transplant shock:

• Be sure that the plants “harden off.” During the plants’ last week indoors, lower temperatures a bit, withhold fertilizer, and water less often.

• For the last 7 to 10 days, bring seedlings outdoors for increasing periods each day, first placing them in dappled shade, protected from winds, and then gradually moving them into full sun and wind.

• Do not leave outside if there is danger of frost. Our frost date is May 15... so keep an eye on the weather

• When buying transplants at a nursery, choose stocky plants with deep-green foliage. You’ll need to harden off these transplants, too.

• Ideally, the transplants that you grow or buy are in individual containers so that you do not disturb the roots of neighboring seedlings when you remove each plant.

2 comments:

  1. Yup. Here's another thing I do in my typically dry and windy area. I save up large, sturdy PET plastic containers (like big V-8 bottles, salad mix boxes) that will fit over my transplants. Cut off bottoms and tops of containers so you've created a mini greenhouse (with an open top so plants don't overheat). I carefully put these around my baby peppers, tomatoes, cukes, squash, etc. for the first week after transplanting.

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