Seedlings

How to care for them and when to upsize your growing vessel.

It has been so wonderful to see your plants germinating and sprouting/becoming a seedling over the past few days! For those of you that are still waiting… your little plant babies will be here in no time!

Today we want to talk to you about your sprouting plants, which are called seedlings. Your plants are now above the soil and growing stems, root systems, and leaves. They require a mix of sunlight, air flow, water, and love to grow into healthy adult plants that will produce fruits and seeds.

As we talked about last week, it is best to water your plants at night or in the morning so that the water doesn’t evaporate before your plants can use it for food. One thing to keep in mind with your watering habits is WHERE you water. Try to water at the ground level where your plant meets the soil, not from above and over the leaves. If you water over top of the leaves the water will collect and fall outside of where the root system is and your plant will not get the food it needs, even if you are giving it the right amount of water. Bring your watering vessel to the bottom of your plant and keep your leaves dry when you water. Another thing to keep in mind - If your leaves are wet in the heat of the day it will draw the sun to them, causing leaf burn. This is when your leaves start to shrivel or turn brown and is easily mistaken for a sick plant!

For those of you that started your plants inside on windowsills this is for you! It is also helpful info if you are already planning on starting seeds indoors next year. If you are bringing your plant outside to keep in a pot or to plant in the garden you need to make sure they are Hardened Off so that they do not go into shock. Start by bringing your seeds into a sheltered, sunny spot for a few hours a day, and slowly leave them out for longer periods of time over 5-7 days before leaving them overnight. This will give them a chance to experience the wind and grow strong enough to handle it, without putting your plant through unneeded stress. It will also give them a chance to get used to the level of sunlight they will be exposed to. Even if they are “full sun” plants, they will still need to adjust to the level of sunlight from inside to outside. Giving your plants some dappled light (light through trees) or just out of direct sun for the first day or two is always a good idea.

Fun fact! UV rays are cut down by up to 50% when going through a window. So, if you are growing your plants inside, they will be getting much less sun even thought they are getting “direct” sunlight all day. Parents and Guardians: A fun activity to test this out is to download a LUX meter on your phone ( I use Lux Meter downloaded from the app store – please dm us if you have any questions) to test out the light in your windows vs the light outside. I cannot say enough how understanding light is one of the most important parts to any plant growing journey!

There have been a few of you posting about how big your plants are getting! It may be close to the time where you need to think about how to give your plants a bigger home. If you start to see tiny roots coming out the bottom of your pots, its time for a replant! If you are transplanting to your garden be careful with the roots as you take it from your pot. Dig a hole that is 1-2" deeper than the height of your pot. Gently set it in the hole you’ve dug and cover with soil being careful not to compact the soil. Your roots need freedom to grow!

If you are looking to transfer to a bigger pot we would recommend at least 6" pots ( you will need to upsize once more this year) or 10" which will give your plants root systems enough room to grow and thrive all the way to harvest. You can find pots like this for a few dollars at any hardware store, most dollar stores, Greenhouses… the list goes on! You can also upcycle/recycle something from your home that would have been thrown away. Great suggestions for this are the large milk jugs with tops cut off, ice cream pails, or any other creative vessel you can come up with! Just make sure you create holes in the bottom so water doesn’t collect and cause your roots to rot.

The below video is an amazing time lapse to show you what your plant has gone through over the past few days!