Transplanting Seedlings-Essential Guide
for Vegetable Seedlings

Some plants,like beans, do better planted directly in the garden. Others, like tomatoes and peppers, need to be started indoors about 6 weeks before transplanting seedlings. Another option is to buy these vegetable seedlings at your local nursery.

If you have time to start your own from seed, you will need some seedling pots and starting mix. Either a sunny window or indoor lights can start your plant seedling, but it has to be enough light to keep them from getting to be leggy. This might mean taking them outside in the morning and bringing them in at night.

If you plan to purchase them at the nursery, be sure to read about what to look for and what to avoid before you go. Some plants could be infested with insects, or already stressed and stunted.

You should examine the leaves, the stem, the color. Does it look vibrant or pale and struggling? Are the leaf tips green or burnt looking? Can you see evidence of new growth? Are there parts that look shriveled or limp? Yellow? Dried leaves?

How Can You Tell?

If you are new to gardening, how do you tell what is healthy and what is not? Healthy, quality seedlings of good varieties will make a much healthier, and more abundantly producing garden. And we all want that. So it pays to make the rightchoice of variety and individual plants.

Knowing the signs of poor plant health or insect infestation can save you from a lot of frustration and disapointing results.

What size should you buy? The pony packs have many plants for less cost than one larger plant by itsself. Which is better for your garden? The answer might surprise you.

Preparing Successful Seedlings

Once you've got your plants, you will need to go through the process of hardening them off before planting. This helps them to acclimate better, with less stress on the plant.

Then comes the actual planting of the seedlings. If this is done well, your plants can thrive. There are some critical aspects you need to know.

The time of day you choose to plant them, the size of the plants, the growing season in your area, as well as how you go about removing them from their seedling tray and setting them in the soil, will all make a difference in their ability to grow.

The planting depth can vary from one type of vegetable to another. How can you tell what depth is best?

Finally, some specific information on the best practices for pepper and tomato seedlings can make a huge difference in how well they produce. The following pages will give you the information you need to grow a great garden, even if you are a beginner. These gardening tips will give you the edge you need to produce vegetables like a pro.

So let's get started...you will learn what you need to know in the following pages.