How to Transplant Vegetable Plants
Once your potted vegetable seedlings are about six to eight inches tall it's time to transplant them into your vegetable garden. While it may seem simple enough to dig a hole and plant your seedling, you'll need to put a bit more planning and care into transplanting. To properly transplant vegetable plants you'll need to prepare seedlings for the outdoors as well as create the optimum environment for successful production. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Potted vegetable seedlings
- Shovel
- Garden soil or compost
- All-purpose fertilizer
Instructions
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Harden off potted vegetable seedlings to acclimate them to outdoor conditions day and night by setting your seedlings outside for a day in a protected area out of direct sunlight and wind and bringing the seedlings inside overnight.
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Place the seedlings in sunlight, still protected from wind, for two to three hours the following day and then back into light shade. Increase the number of hours of direct sunlight and access to wind each day over the next week until you can leave the seedlings out all day and night.
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Look on the plant tag that accompanies the seedling to find out whether your vegetable prefers sun or shade and how far apart each plant needs to be from others. Most vegetable plants will require full sun, but spacing can vary from six inches to three feet apart.
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Dig an area in full or part sun where you want your vegetables be. The hole should be large enough for the vegetable plants you have and the spacing required. Dig down up to a foot deep and break up the soil as much as possible so it is light and loose.
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Add up to two shovelfuls of garden soil or compost per square foot of space in your dug area over the loosened soil. Mix the fresh soil or compost in with the existing soil as deeply as you have dug, adding more garden soil or compost as desired if your existing soil is sandy or rich with clay.
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Apply an all-purpose fertilizer following the manufacturer's instructions for the quantity to use and the size space you want to improve. Mix the fertilizer in with your loose soil as deeply as the packaging recommends.
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Dig small holes the size of each hardened seedling's pot according to the spacing needed by your specific vegetables. Remove the plastic seedling pot from your vegetable seedlings, keeping the root ball intact, and set each seedling into its prepared hole the same depth as the container.
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Firm the soil around each seedling without packing it down. Water the seedlings lightly to moisten the soil without drenching them. Water lightly two to three times a week to keep the root balls of your seedlings moist for the first month, and then switch to deeper watering once a week when new growth appears.
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Tips & Warnings
New seedlings can go through transplant shock where the plant appears to have stopped growing yet does not die. Continue to water and care for your seedlings through this time period as the plant is working on growing roots and becoming established.
References
- Photo Credit plant tomates image by guy from Fotolia.com
