Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
You will want to gently loosen the roots of the seedling by pulling them apart. Stay away
from the base of the plant as you can easily pull roots off the plant base, injuring the plant.
Pry the roots apart as much as you can and then plant.
If you see that the root ball is densely packed with soil, you can also help this situation by
taking your butter knife and making some small incisions in different places in the soil to
loosen it up. The marks do not have to be deep and several small ones are much better for
the plant than one or two large ones. Digging into the root ball too deep with a knife can
damage roots deep down that you will not be able to see.
7. Plant your plants.
Your new container should be filled with soil up to approximately
one to one-and-half inches from the outer rim. Take your trowel or even your hand and re-
move a small amount of soil form the middle. Now, place the plant in the hole and pack the
soil back around the plant while holding it upright.
You have to be very careful when packing soil around the plant as several things can hap-
pen. First, you may have a tendency to push too hard around the plant in an attempt to
firmly seat it in the dirt. In doing so, you can very snap off the plant at the ground or just
below it. If you find that the plant isn't firm in the soil, gently remove the soil and the plant
and dig a slightly larger hole and try again. Never try to force the plant into the ground.
Second, is that you can end up with a plant that is buried too deep. You want the root system
to be submerged, but not part of the trunk of the plant. Judge how high the soil needs to
cover the plant.
Make sure that the plant is sitting straight so that there is less likely of a chance that it will
tip over or grow at an angle. As it begins to produce vegetables, the added weight on one
side could jeopardize the stability of the entire plant.
8. Watering.
Surprisingly enough, this involves more than just dumping water on the plant.
If water isn't distributed evenly, you take the chance that the plant will not receive valu-
able water in some parts of the soil. Since the plant has already been put under some stress
through transplanting, it does not need the added stress of having to search for water, too.
When you water a new plant for the first time, the water is likely to drain through the soil
very quickly since it has just been recently moved into the new container and hasn't had suf-
ficient time to become packed. Even if the soil was moistened before the plant was planted,
the soil still needs even more water in order to give the plant the best chance for survival.
