By Mary Lowther
What do you do when the roots of your seedlings fill the pots? Either plant them right away or put them into bigger pots.
Never let them get so long that they start wrapping around the inside of the pot as this will stunt their growth and they may never recover. Cauliflower will probably not grow bigger than buttons, plants will bolt early and most folks will just blame themselves for not being proficient gardeners. Don’t let the seedlings dry out either; if they do, toss them in the compost heap because it’s not worth even growing them out. You want to grow seedlings as quickly as possible with organic methods in our climate so you get a jump on predatory insects just waiting until your back is turned.
This means using potting soil that retains water like a sponge, ensuring good capillarity by pressing the soil down gently before planting the seed, covering the seed lightly with more potting soil and watering from below. My flats of seeds sit in a water-proof container that I pour fertilized water into as needed and the soil is always damp. I put one tablespoon of liquid fish fertilizer into a five-gallon can of water and let it sit for a day before using. I watch the plants carefully and check for root development.
Last October I cut suckers from my finished tomato plants, potted them up, brought them inside and kept them watered all winter, re-potting as necessary. Four of the eight suckers survived the winter covered with a piece of Reemay in an unheated sunroom, continuing to grow and develop roots. About a month ago I repotted them into four-inch pots and by this week they had grown into two-foot tall plants with roots filling the pots so I planted them out into the greenhouse. If I didn’t have the greenhouse I would have planted them outside and made a plastic tunnel to keep them warm.
This year I’m situating indeterminate (vining) tomato plants five feet apart and allowing two suckers besides the main stem to grow out, pinching off all other suckers. This gives them room to breathe, decreases their need for water and prevents blight spores from sticking to the leaves. I like to plant determinate (bush) tomatoes too because they produce earlier than the vining ones and can be planted closer together since their roots won’t take up as much space.
The bed they will go into is covered with clear plastic to warm up the soil, but this will come off soon so the new tomato transplants can go in, each one protected by the Wall O’ Waters until temperatures are reliably above freezing, and that seems to change every year. Last week we had a frost overnight, so it pays to wait. When the plants get too big for the pot and the bed isn’t ready yet, I re-pot into larger containers. I go through a lot of potting soil, but since I make it myself, that’s not a problem.
Events:
May 16 – Workshop to create herb pots with the Lake Bloomers at St. Aidan’s church, 1 p.m. Bring your own 12-inch pot half-filled with soil. $10.
June 20 – Tour of Shirley Painters’s garden in Genoa Bay. More info to come.
Please contact mary_lowther@yahoo.ca with questions and suggestions since I need all the help I can get.