Best Way to Plant Transplanting Small Seedlings

The seedlings you buy from nurseries and farmers’ markets are most likely to be annuals growing in plastic packs. The method of planting depends on whether you want a mass of a certain annual in the border or whether you want a row of them in a cutting garden or some out-of-the-way part of your property.

If you have to hold them for a day or two before planting, you must be scrupulous about watering. I water from the bottom by setting them in a larger tray partly filled with water, lifting them out when I see the surface of the soil turn dark with moisture. Watering from above, I have lost some seedlings because the taller plants prevented the water from reaching the shorter ones. Remember the weak solution of plant food every time you water.

If you grew your own seedlings, you will probably have them in greater numbers than if you’re buying six-packs from the nursery. Whether you grew them under lights in a basement, in a greenhouse, or on a kitchen windowsill, outdoor conditions are going to be a shock to them. Take time to “harden them off” gradually.

I have a special warning about seedlings in peat pots. I know the promotional material for these peat pots claims “no root shock,” but I’d rather risk the shock than plant it pot and all and have the peat wall dry up so that the roots cannot penetrate it. If you do plant them in their pots, soak the whole thing thoroughly before putting it in the ground and be sure none of the peat wall is left above ground, for it will act as a wick and draw out all the moisture.

While I’m playing Cassandra, let me give you one more warning: watch out for cutworms. These miserable little caterpillars can demolish a planting overnight by nipping off the tender stems at soil level, leaving them lying on the ground. Small and therefore tender plants seem to be their favorites, and the greatest danger is in the first few days after planting out. I once lost a whole row of six-inch delphinium seedlings before waking up to the cause of the danger. Not anymore, I may say.

Seek and destroy is your mission. It’s not difficult, because by day cutworms lie curled, gray and horrid, just below the surface of the soil, waiting for nighttime. They do not move far from the tender seedlings. By the time you find them they will have done the damage, so prevention is better. Put a small cardboard collar around the base of each plant to deter the varmints.