Poor little broccoli seedlings, completely neglected and in
need of some TLC. I should have repotted them two weeks ago but there was
always something more important to do and, well, you know how goes. Plants are
hardly the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. At least I remembered to water
them!
These seedlings were germinated in a soil-less mixture of sphagnum peat moss and horticultural perlite, which is lighter and better suited to very
young seeds. Now they are ready to move
to bigger pots. One of the lessons I’ve learned this year with grow lights is to
plant seedlings in as big of a container as you can once they have outgrown the
germination cells. The size of the pot really affects the growth of the plant. This
also eliminates the need to repot again before they are ready to be
transplanted outside.
I use potting soil in the new containers. I mix a
big container of the soil with water until it is moist, not soggy, and fill the pots.
I create a hole in the new pot’s soil. Holding the seedling
at the base of the plant, I lightly squeeze the cell to loosen the soil and
lift the plant out and into the new hole. I try and keep as much of the old
soil around the plant as I can as this will ease the transition for the seedling.
Once all the new pots are full, I give each plant a good
squirt of fish emulsion followed by a good drink of water. I like using empty dish washing up liquid bottles when applying liquids to seedlings because I have really good control over where the liquid goes and how much is added. Then the tray goes
back under the grow lights.
These plants should be going into the ground this week but
they are nowhere near strong enough. In
a week or two I’ll have to decide if there is enough of a season left to merit
pulling up the broccoli plants in the ground that are still producing secondary
heads, to make room for these young plants that may not produce before the first
frost in October. May be I can find room in the garden to plant
these without having to pull up the old broccoli. Hum…. I’ll have to think
about this one.
See you in the garden,
Sue
The work changed into very thoughtfully achieved and you could tell how thorough and professional the task becomes.
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