Many vegetable plants’ first days in the garden aren’t as
seedlings poking through
the soil, but as young plants that started life indoors. For
those plants, a University of
Georgia gardening expert says some
“transplanting rules of thumb” can make your garden much
more successful.

Prepare the
plants

“Leaving the plants outside will harden them off and
get them ready for
transplanting,” said Wayne McLaurin, an Extension Service
horticulturist with the University of
Georgia Extension Service.

“The longer the flats of plants have been outside,
especially overnight,” he
said, “the less shock the transplants will have to
withstand.”

Prepare the
soil

To make the transplanting proceed more smoothly,
McLaurin said, prepare the soil first.
“Try to do this just before you transplant, so the soil
will be cool and moist,”
he said. “If the soil is worked up and loose, it will make
the root-to-soil contact
much easier.”

Add fertilizer

Then place a handful of compost or a teaspoon of 5-10-
15 fertilizer into the planting
hole. Always cover fertilizer with some soil. Putting the
soil between the roots and
fertilizer keeps the roots from being damaged by
fertilizer burn.

“Remember, this is in addition to that broadcasting of
fertilizer you added
earlier over the entire garden,” McLaurin said.

Pour on the
water

Soak the plants in the flats thoroughly. That will help
the soil and roots stay
together as tightly as possible when you remove each plant
from its container.

Transplant on a cloudy, wind-free day if you can,
McLaurin said. Or do it late in the
afternoon when the sun has begun to set. Then there is
less air-drying of the roots.

Handle with
care

“Cradle that little root ball!” he said. “Keep as much
soil as you can
around it. That way, fewer root hairs will get exposed to
air and die.”

Damaging root hairs is inevitable in transplanting, he
said. But try to keep this
damage to a minimum.

“Root hairs are what the plant takes up water and
nutrients through,” he
said. “They’re the feeders on the regular roots, and
they’re so small you can’t see
them.”

Set the root ball carefully in the hole, fill in the
soil and firm it well so the roots
make good contact with the soil.

More water

Then give the transplants a good soaking. Direct the
water flow around the base of the
plant. But try not to get the water on the leaves and
stems.

“Water thoroughly,” McLaurin said. “Watering to the
point of practically
making mud ensures the best possible cementing of roots
and soil and the least possible
delay in new growth.”

Young transplants need watering the first three or four
days, he said, until they
become established. This is especially true in March and
early April when the wind can dry
the plants and soil quickly.