How To Transplant Seedlings Into Garden – 6 Key Steps and Mistakes to Avoid
Knowing the best way how transplant seedlings into garden can make a big difference between having healthy plants and maximum harvest in your garden.
In this quick video I will share with you how to transplant vegetable seedlings into the garden to ensure the biggest possible garden harvests.
This guide is perfect for all vegetables and herbs, including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
In this quick video we’re going to walk through six key steps that you need to know in order to transplant your plants that you grew inside or bought from the store out into your garden successfully follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to a beautiful and successful garden.
First step is hardening off your plants
About 10 to 14 days ahead of transplanting out. While your plants are growing indoors they’re very used to the stable temperature and they’re not used to seeing the bright sunlight so what you need to do each day is give them a little bit more exposure outdoor to get used to this new climate. For the first couple days make sure they don’t receive direct sunlight. By looking at your plant out date you can figure out when to start this process. For cool weather crops you transplant out ahead of your last frost date, where warm weather crops like eggplants and tomatoes and peppers are typically transplanted out after your last expected frost date. Plants that you bought at a home garden center or nursery may already be hardened off so you might be able to skip this step you may want to ask when buying.
Second Steps – Water
Ensure that the seedlings are thoroughly soaked before transplanting this will help minimize transplantation shock
Step Three – Space Accordingly
Space accordingly in a nutrient-rich soil. You want to make sure that you space your transplants that optimizes space and maximizes. Click here for a helpful post that highlights all of the optimal spacing for many of the common vegetables. In our plans you’ll notice that in the gardening layout we’ve outlined how much to plant per square foot in this example one pepper per square foot two kale four swiss chard nine beans per square foot. Make sure that you have nutrient-rich soil and you’re adding compost to each garden bed yearly.
Step Four – Inspect Roots
Now that you’ve fully watered your seedlings and have a nutrient-rich bed inspect your plants roots as you take them out of the containers take a look at the roots in this example these roots are perfect and ready for transplanting.
You’ll notice that they’re not root bound and they’re not very coiled you can plant these directly without any intervention.
In contrast let’s take a look at these kale plants.
These were in their small pots for too long they should have either been up potted or planted sooner you can see that the roots are all balled up you can help them out by splitting up the roots gently before transplanting them.
I do this by using my hands but you also can take scissors and cut the base of the roots in this example
Step Five – Add Mulch
Mulch is very important because it keeps moisture in the soil it gives organic matter for earthworms to feast on. It adds organic matter back into the soil and it suppresses weeds. In this example i’m using wood chips from a stump that was ground up on my property. You also can use straw dead leaves or unfinished compost.
Step Six – Water & Fertilize
The last step is to water. You want to make sure that you keep your plant moist to avoid transplant shock. An optional step you can also give the plant some liquid soluble fertilizer. I like to use the organic fish and seaweed fertilizer. This liquid-soluble fertilizer makes nitrogen easily accessible to the plant giving the plant a boost and minimizing any transplant shock. See the link to this product here.
Thank you and happy growing! Let me know if you have any questions below!
