In order to avoid transplant shock, there are a few little tricks you can use when transferring your seedlings to the outdoor garden.

Once your plants have a nice head start on the growing season, and you’ve begun hardening off your plants and getting them used to the outdoor air, it’s time to watch the weather. Wait until the days get warm and all danger of frost is well past. Then transplant your seedlings in your outdoor garden.

Prepare The Soil

Prepare the soil by adding a little aged manure (manure that has been setting a while) or fertilizer to the bottom of your holes to help your plants take hold more quickly. If you use fertilizer, try to find something organic and eco-friendly. Remember, you’re going to be eating these vegetables, so you don’t want to be using nasty chemical fertilizers.

Chemical fertilizers are not only bad for you, but they eventually deplete your soil as well, making it necessary to use even more fertilizer in the future. The one drawback of manure is that it can sometimes contain weed seeds. But as your plants will already have a growing head start, that shouldn’t be a problem if you’re diligent in your gardening.

Transplant During The Evening

Don’t plant your seedlings at the height of the afternoon. The warm temperatures will exhaust the plants and they may not make it back. Instead wait until the cool of the evening to transfer your plants from their containers to the ground. Water your seedlings immediately after transplanting to help avoid transplant shock, and be sure to water them every day for a few days thereafter.

In a few months your garden should be full of delicious edibles!

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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