Hello! It's Wednesday! This is the day where I post projects and how to do them...or at least, how I did them :) ...hope you enjoy today's repotting baby seedlings!
HOW TO REPOT TINY FRAGILE SEEDLINGS
1. First, get your seedlings...either by planting indoors following seed pack instructions, or buy purchasing them at a garden centre. (Make sure you buy seeds or plants that will grow in your area's climate and make sure you have enough sunlight or artificial light for them to survive! i.e. no tomatoes in the shade!)
These are seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to use cardboard egg cartons because they are compostable and you can plant them directly in the soil, but I couldn't find any lately. And I used soil that is specially made for container plants and gently watered the seeds every day.
As you can see, there are a few spindly seedlings that are getting too tall for the egg carton. These are radishes. The other seeds haven't sprouted yet - most plants are not as quick to sprout as radishes are. Radishes are said to be one of the easiest plants to grow. I also have hot peppers, rosemary and parsley...these may not grow as well but I thought I'd give them a try! Anyhoo...
2. Gather and rinse out your "pots". My boyfriend and I are currently addicted to diet pop. So we have about 10 million soda bottles kicking around the apartment. I wanted to recycle them into some sort of crafty project so I googled recycle soda bottles and found this beautiful page. I had already done the bird feeder and didn't think the landlord would go for 100 hanging bird feeders outside the door so I went with the flower pot idea for my seeds. Mine didn't turn out as perfectly as the ones on Disney Family Fun, but I am ok with them. :)
As you can see, I couldn't get the glue off them and the rim isn't perfectly straight. But they are ok I think, for my first time lol.
3. Poke holes in the bottom of the inner bottle. It is very important - crucial, even - that the pots have some drainage holes in them so the roots don't drown. This seems to be the most important rule of container gardening.
I just used very sharp scissors to punch 3 or 4 small holes around the bottom, small enough for water to escape but not the soil.
4. Fill the "pots" with soil, leaving about 1 inch of space at the very top. Dig a small hole out in the middle of the soil for the seedling.
5. Gently remove the seedling from the container, or, if it is a plantable one, just separate it from the other planters. I had to use a spoon to get the root out of the egg carton. Gently but firmly place the seedling into the soil, and add a bit more around it. Press down gently. Water it well, but don't soak it completely. Just water it until it is moist - not soggy!
I am always scared of over-watering so I only watered around the plant itself. You can find some good general gardening help here at the University of Illinois Extension. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/containergardening/welcome.cfm
6. Place the plants in the window or under inexpensive fluorescent lighting and watch them grow!
Grow little buddies, grow!
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