Fall Transplants

Well, it's mid-July, and it finally got hot around here.  And by now you know that when it's hot outside, it's even hotter inside my greenhouse.  It's a place I tend to avoid during the height of summer--I only venture in when I have to.  This week just happened to be one of those "have to" occasions, because despite the soaring temperatures in there, I knew it was time to address this mess--I mean mass--of seedlings. 

These teensy, tangled shoots are actually my fall seedlings: broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.  We started them several weeks ago because they need quite a bit of time to develop before going outside into the garden beds.  Obviously, they should have been dealt with before they reached the point of falling over, but nobody's perfect--even me.  (Gasp!). 

But the point is that I finally did get around to addressing the issue, and interestingly enough, the first step was to pull the plug...

The plant plug, that is.  And this is one of them.  A "plug" in the greenhouse world refers to a small core of soil with a seedling growing from it.  Growers start their seeds in neat little trays designed just for these plugs with the purpose of transplanting them later into larger cell packs like what you see at the garden centers. 

One day I might go all fancy and buy a few of those trays, but for now I have a habit of using what I have in order to do what I want.  So, as usual, we improvised...

By using paper egg cartons.  It works.  They aren't as deep or narrow as the professional trays, but otherwise they work the same way.  And the bonus is that if you wanted to, you could tear the sections apart and plant the whole "cup" in the garden!  The cartons are biodegradable, and because you're not disturbing the roots at all, the seedling has a better shot at surviving. 

So why wouldn't I just do this instead of what I'm about to show you?  Well, look again at this photo:

How many seedlings do you see sprouting from this one little plug? 

Definitely more than one, right?  This is because Will and I may have gotten a bit carried away sprinkling the seeds into the cartons...and now you know why we needed to transplant them. 

It was a fairly simple procedure.  Here's how we did it:

We gently grasped the plug and teased apart the rootball so each seedling was separate from the rest.  I can't emphasis the "gently" part enough, since the stems and roots are so fragile at this stage of development.  Let me just say that not all seedlings survived the surgery. 

May they rest in peace.

But as for the rest of them...

After we got each one separated, we immediately planted it into its own space.  The key here is to have the seedling trays pre-filled with potting soil, and already moistened too.  The less time the seedling's roots are exposed to the air, the better.  They're kinda like a fish out of water at that point...and I don't like dead fish.  Unless it's a freshly caught trout that's getting all fried up for supper.  I do like fresh trout...

I may have gotten off track here.  Is anybody surprised? 

I saw that look you just gave me.

Well, talk amongst yourselves, please, while I get myself re-focused...

Ahh...here we go.  This is what the newly transplanted seedlings looked like just a few days after the transplant.  They rebounded pretty quickly despite the heat inside the greenhouse, thank goodness for that.  All they have to do now is sit right there and grow for a few more weeks before getting transplanted out into the fall garden beds.

I can hardly wait for that to happen--planting the fall beds, I mean.  I absolutely love seeing my neat rows of cool-weather crops nestled in the straw-lined beds, especially on those crisp fall mornings when I meander through the garden. 

Refreshing!  That's the word I'm looking for.  Fall gardens are refreshing...not to mention all the goodies I get to bring to the table from them.  Yes, the harvest is very refreshing too--and after sweating it out in the greenhouse this week, you can bet I am eagerly awaiting that refreshment!