Vegetable Gardening (91 page)
To thin plants that will continue growing in the same container, snip out extra seedlings at the soil line with a pair of scissors, as shown in Figure 13-2. If you try to pull these seedlings out, you may disturb the roots of the plants that are staying. Also be sure to snip out any weak or misshapen plants. The appendix explains how much space to leave between different types of vegetable seedlings.
To move seedlings to a new container, first fill a larger container (plastic six-packs, 4-inch pots, or peat pots) with moist potting soil. Poke holes in the soil large enough to put the seedling roots in — the eraser end of a pencil is a good tool for this. Dig around the plants carefully by using the blade of a table knife or a small stick, such as a plant label, and then lift the seedlings out of the soil. Always hold the seedlings by the tips of their leaves; otherwise, you can easily crush their delicate stems or injure their growing tips. Set the plants in the new container, slightly deeper than they were growing before. Firm the soil gently around the roots, water well, and keep the plants out of direct sun for a day or two until they adjust to their new pots.
Figure 13-2:
Thin seedlings at the soil line with scissors.
Feeding your seedlings
Regular fertilizing helps produce strong, healthy plants. Some potting soils already have fertilizer mixed in, and in that case you don't have to add more. For other types, use a diluted water-soluble fertilizer to one-third strength (usually 1 teaspoon of fertilizer per gallon of water) to water your seedlings. Water with the solution once a week. For more on fertilizers, see Chapter 15.
Dealing with damping off
One day you're admiring your strong, healthy seedlings, and the next day you're gaping in dismay at the sight of them toppled over and dying. The attacker is called
damping off,
which is a fungus that infects young seedlings, sometimes even before they have a chance to emerge from the soil. If you examine infected seedlings closely, you usually can see that part of the stem near the soil line is sunken, shriveled, and water soaked. Sometimes a white mold also forms on the stem.Damping off is one of the most common problems that seed-starters face, but fortunately you can control it with good sanitation and cultural practices (proper watering, fertilizing, and lighting). Sterilizing containers with a bleach solution and using sterile potting soil go a long way toward preventing problems. Wet potting soil and high nitrogen encourage this fungus, so avoid overwatering, and use a well-drained germinating mix that's low in nitrogen. Or consider using fertilizer only after the seedlings develop their first true leaves. Sowing seeds thinly to allow good air circulation also can help. Many seeds come coated with a fungicide that helps prevent damping off.
If you notice seedlings in one portion of a container beginning to wither, cut them off and remove the soil around them as quickly as possible. Then do whatever you can to make conditions less favorable for the fungus (basically, let the soil dry more). With luck, you'll be able to save the rest of the batch.
Transplanting Indoor Seedlings and Starter Plants
After you nurture your seedlings indoors for a good 4 to 8 weeks, and when the weather's right for planting (see Chapter 3 to find out when to plant in your area), you're ready to transplant the seedlings outdoors. Or maybe you haven't grown seedlings at all, but you want to buy some starter plants at a nursery and get them in the ground. I discuss both scenarios in the following sections.
Buying starter plants
If you don't start your transplants from seeds at home, you can buy them at a nursery or garden center. You can find seedlings of almost every type and size around planting time. However, the range of varieties available will be greater if you start your own transplants from seed.
Follow these tips when buying starter plants:
Choose healthy-looking plants.
Tomatoes, for example, should have a stocky stem, be about 4- to 6-inches tall, and sport dark-green foliage. Read the Part II chapters that discuss the vegetable you want to find out what makes a healthy-looking plant.
Avoid large, crowded, spindly plants in small containers.
The roots of these types of plants are often bound up and have no room to grow. You can check the roots for yourself by gently removing the transplants from their containers (if you aren't sure how to do this, see "Making the big move to the ground," later in this chapter). If you see a dense mat of roots around the outside of the
root ball
(the soil with roots growing in it), the plants probably have been in the pot too long.
Buy plants at the optimum size.
Plants with four to six leaves and short, stocky stems are usually best. In general, younger plants are better than tall, older plants that most likely were stressed at one point or another.
Avoid plants that are already flowering and have fruit on them.
Plants with flowers and fruits never produce well.
You can sometimes buy large tomato plants in 1-gallon or larger pots — sometimes they even have tomatoes on them. In my experience, these large plants rarely grow well after you get them home. I prefer smaller transplants that can get off to a running start.
You can buy vegetable transplants locally, but many mail-order seed companies now also offer a wide range of vegetable varieties as small plants or plugs. The plants usually are in good shape. They offer a wider selection than you can find in garden centers, you don't have to drive around to find the best transplants, and they ship plants to you at the appropriate planting time for your region. See the appendix for the addresses of various mail-order companies.
Toughening up all types of transplants
Vegetable seedlings that are grown indoors at home or purchased from a greenhouse or nursery in spring need to acclimate gradually to the brighter light and cooler temperatures of the outside world. This process, called
hardening off,
slows plant growth, causing the plants to store more food internally and increase the thickness of their outer leaf layers. Basically, hardening off toughens up transplants for the cold, cruel, outside world.