Gardening Articles: Care :: Soil, Water, & Fertilizer

Transplanting Vine Crops (page 2 of 2)

by National Gardening Association Editors


Once it's warm and your seedlings are hardened off, you can transplant them into a sunny garden spot.

First, soak the plants thoroughly. Moist dirt sticks to the tender roots, protecting them from rough treatment. Always transplant seedlings into slightly deeper holes than their original containers.

When everything is ready, take one seedling, tilt the pot and tap the bottom to loosen the root ball. The whole plant will slip out into your hand. If you use Jiffy 7's or peat pots, carefully tear the outer skin of the pot away from the roots, being careful not to harm them. If some of the pot sticks, leave it. You just need to remove enough so the roots aren't bound tightly on all sides.

Have some 2-inch newspaper squares on hand to wrap around the stems to prevent cutworm damage. Wrap a paper collar around the stem, so that it's one inch above and one inch below the soil surface, where it keeps cutworms from chewing on the tender stem. Set the plant into the ground at the same level it was in the pot, then firm the seedling into the soil to give the roots good contact with the soil.

Work quickly. Don't leave the seedling roots exposed to the air and light for more than a few seconds. Water each plant thoroughly before going on to the next. Once the plants are in the ground, care for them just as you would plants started outdoors.

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