Transplanting

Here is a photo of the transpanted seedlings. They look pretty untidy, but after 24 hours they will straighten up like little soldiers. Make sure your plants are watered in and start fertilizing with a very dilute solution of Plant Prod 10-52-10 or an organic fertilizer such as 'Muskie'. We carry both at 'The Greenhouse'. You only need to use the 10-52-10 for a couple of weeks and should then change to 20-20-20. If using the 'Muskie' you can continue on and do not need to change to a different formulation. Sit back and watch them grow.

As well, your seedling should have nice, healthy roots. Each plant is carefully plucked from the seedling flat and transplanted into a larger pot or flat. Make sure you sure steralized soil such as promix or sunshine mix or you risk losing all of your hard work.

Pictured above is a marigold seedling. The smooth, oval leaves are the cotyledons... the first set of leaves that hold the sugar and starch needed for the plant to put out roots. These are not true leaves and you will notice that on all plants, these leaves die as soon as the plant has begun to establish itself. The raggedy leaves are the true leaves. True leaves look different on every plant but are very distinctively different from the cotyledons. Your seedling should be showing true leaves before you uproot it to transplant.

Last blog our seedlings were just up. The true leaves are showing on most of our seedlings and Marlene, Connie and Daddy (not pictured) are transplanting like mad. That's Cherie in the background preparing to start hanging baskets. Seeds that have been broadcast cannot stay in the germinating flat for long as they are too close together and diseases will present themselves when plants are crowded. Thus, one must remove the seedlings and plant them in a larger container for growing on.