Up-Potting Seed Starts

My first round of Fall seeds had a pretty poor germination rate, but some things did sprout.  A month later, those seedlings were ready for the next step.  Unfortunately, I was about to get a new roof and didn't want them all to get squashed by debris.  We compromised by giving them temporary homes in small pots.

Moving seedlings to gradually larger pots is a common practice. They start in seed-starting medium, which is full of the nutrients a baby plant needs.  When you get them at the plant store, they have been transferred to slightly larger containers with different nutrients.  And then you put them in your own garden, hopefully strong enough to deal with whatever native soil or garden bed they are given.

On this day, I chose to transplant two broccoli, a kale, an eggplant, and an over-achiever celery that decided to sprout every seed I put in it.  The process was very simple. Fill a pot with  moist dirt, make a deep hole, and pop out the cell from the tray.  The cell should be planted as deep as the plant can handle, especially if the seedling has gotten as leggy as mine did.

Once the roof is done, I'll start hardening these guys off on the patio.  Then, they will find permanent homes somewhere in the garden.

Oh, and while I was at it, I trimmed up the beefsteak tomato plant, which had grown too heavy for its cage.  I picked anything half blushed, to lighten the load, including one 10 oz monster.  No wonder the whole thing kept falling over.  I do expect the plant to die before winter.  It's had a hard time since the tropical storm.