All Things Garden

Transplanting Seedlings:  Yes You Can

Seedlings I grew myself

Disclaimer:  I'm no professional.  I just really really love plants.  I love everything about them.  I love that they are of nature.  I love that they are green and bright, lots of them anyways.  I love that with the right care you can grow anything.  I suppose I love the Possibilities of Plants.  They have become my friends.  

I began my garden journey several years ago with an acutely black thumb.  Nothing I touched lived.  Seriously.  No pity party here.  I just couldn't grow anything.  I had a rudimentary knowledge base, if that, when it came to plants.  I knew they needed sunlight.  I knew they needed water.  That's about it.  The one time I successfully got some plants to grow was in 2004.  The we had like 500 hurricanes in Florida and everything died and I gave up.  I decided I couldn't do it.  I was cursed to kill everything I put in the ground.

Fast forward several years.  In 2009 I took on the task of digging my own in-ground garden.  I spent 3 days tilling soil, removing dirt, building a fence, and putting in all sorts of metal artwork (cuz that's how I roll).  The process itself was healing.  You see, I needed to complete a task from start to finish.  And I did.  I toiled and sweated and made my nook in our backyard.  The first season I learned a lot.  I had some success and some failure.  The next October I had experienced even more accomplishment.  I was getting the hang of this.  I planted again in the Spring but by the following year, 2011, I had a 1 month old and no time for a garden.  I'm ready again. 

 This Summer I experimented with drying my own  orange bell pepper seeds, planting them, and then seeing if I could get them to produce anything.  I DID IT!!! What I failed to remember was that planting anything in July in Florida just isn't going to work.  I was able to produce over 30 seedlings and transplant them and have had a few flowering plants from them.  If I would have waited a little longer I would have more fruiting plants.  The good thing is that now I know How To Do It.  And you can too.  It is super easy and that's the reason for this post.  So...how does the process work?

First of all, if you have a veggie or fruit that you really love save the seeds.  Get them out and put them in a paper towel to dry.  I put my bell pepper seeds in a paper towel, labelled it, and put them in the window sill.  I let the sun do its thing and dry out the seeds for a couple of weeks and then put the seeds in a plastic bag.  I labelled the bag and put it away until I wanted to use them.  

The next thing I did was fill an average sized ceramic pot with potting soil and put the seeds in.  I just gently pushed them about  a 1/2 inch under the soil.  I didn't really count how many because I was working under the assumption that several wouldn't take.  I suppose I ended up putting about 30 dried seeds in the pot.  I watered it for a couple of weeks and soon had multiple sprouts.  I waited until they were a few inches tall to try and move them to a larger container.

Seedlings in their original container

Once I was ready to move the seedlings I compiled all the things I needed to do so.  There isn't much to the process.  You'll need some potting soil, a tablespoon, and a few containers.

What You'll Need

After you've gotten all your materials, fill your larger containers with the appropriate soil.  Gently scoop out the seedlings and transplant them to their new home.  It's a painstaking process but your plants will thank you.  The tablespoon comes in handy because the root system in the seedlings isn't very long.  You don't want to disrupt the roots anymore than necessary either.

Gently scoop the seedings

Once you've transplanted your seedlings all you have to do is treat them like any other plant.  Make sure they get the appropriate amount of sunlight, water, and food and you should be golden.  Follow the spacing guidelines for whatever you are planting and you should be golden. 

Happy Transplant