Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Solomon Steve

Author:Solomon, Steve [Solomon, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publisher Services
Published: 2010-07-21T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Transplants

My well‑beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill;

And he digged it, and cleared it of stones,

And planted it with the choicest of vine,

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes,

And it brought forth wild grapes.

—5 ISAIAH, THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

(MASORETIC TEXT)

In spring, eager vegetable transplants are available almost everywhere. Supermarkets, drugstores, garden centers—even bookstores—have displays. Some of these seedlings are nearly as good as the best homegrown transplants; others are weak specimens, almost certain to die when set out in the garden. How do you tell them apart?

A transplant should look sturdy—thick stemmed and stocky—rather than fragile—tall, spindly, and thin stemmed. The seedlings should have at least three completely developed pairs of true leaves, be dark green (unless the variety is naturally purple or some other color), and be well rooted but not pot-bound. It’s easy to see whether a transplant is stocky, strong, and dark green, but to inspect the root system, you must carefully invert the pot or cell tray and discreetly take a look.

Supporting the soil by placing as many fingers as possible around or between the stem, fingertips facing the soil, invert the pot and firmly tap the bottom with a loose finger until the seedling, roots, and soil drop ½ inch down into your waiting hand. Then slowly ease the pot up so you can inspect the soil ball. If roots have not yet filled the pot, few or none will be visible and the soil will tend to crumble and fall apart. In that case, carefully pack the seedling back into its pot and put it down for someone else to buy. Unless it is a small seedling in a big pot, it has too much top for the amount of “bottom,” and it is almost sure to wilt and will probably go into shock when set out. It probably was grown too warm and too fast with excessive nitrogen, which over-stimulates top growth. If you’re set on having the plant, take it home and harden it off for a week or ten days before transplanting it.

If the roots are wrapped around the outside of the soil ball, the plant has become pot-bound. In the greenhouse, watered every day and fed with liquid fertilizer, a seedling can continue to grow and look good for several weeks after becoming pot-bound. But that seedling will probably wilt when set out unless severely pruned back and/or watered daily for over a week; it will certainly take a week or more for the tangled root system to push out into new soil. With some types of seedlings, especially cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli, becoming pot-bound can be a disaster. Once their root development is checked, these brassicas become irreversibly stunted, and head out or bolt long before they can develop into full-size plants. The result, predetermined from the time the seedlings were six weeks old, is a very small and poor-quality yield.

To have more success when transplanting pot-bound seedlings, clip off half the leaf area, starting at the bottom.

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