POTTING UP Your Seedlings Is The Only Way To Get LARGE Healthy Transplants Ready For The Garden

If you want strong healthy tomato plants and a jump on the season, you absolutely need to repot your tomato seedlings before putting them in the garden.

They'll be hardier and grow much more vigorously if you pot them up while you wait for the weather to warm up. In this video, I'll go through all the reasons why and show you every step!
And it only takes a few seconds per plant!

If you're as passionate about gardening as I am, I'll bet you started your tomato plants back in early spring or maybe even a little bit earlier...probably just using standard cell packs too. And no doubt, you have them growing under some lights or outside in a cold frame or greenhouse or maybe even just on the window sill.

We want them to reach a good transplant size so they can be put outside and start to really grow properly. But if you started them too early, there's always that chance the weather won’t cooperate.

It seems that every year there's always a surprise cold spell or unexpected snowfall after the last frost date. Your plants could be seriously stunted or damaged if you were to put them out in the ground too soon. So while you wait for those guarantees from the weather, what's happening to your seedlings?

Well, the plants don't want to wait. They want to keep growing. They're going to continue spreading their roots through that small bit of soil and as they grow larger, they're going to demand more and more water and nutrients. The roots will start to get so thick that they will start circling around at the bottom of the cell pack or even growing out of the pot entirely.

This is called being "root bound".

The roots are pulling all the moisture out of the soil so quickly that you'll need to water it a couple times a day. If you don't, the obvious symptoms you'll see are that the leaves become droopy and the top of the soil always seems to be on the dry side. As well, the nutrition in the soil has now been exhausted and you'll have to start adding fertilizer.

The plant will let you know this. Its leaves won't be as lush and green as they once were. They'll be paler and even starting to turn yellow. But even if you do provide some extra water and fertilizer, the roots may be so tightly packed that the plant will still show distress and its growth will slow way down. And if it's in distress too long, this can set the plant back and it can take a few weeks to fully recover.

What you really need to think about is repotting them. And it's called "Potting Up".

This is simply taking them out of the cell packs and replanting them into larger pots using enriched soil. It will invigorate your plants and they'll definitely show improvement very quickly. You'll get them growing healthy and strong again until it's time to put them in the ground.

When you repot one, first, select the new container. You need something that is at least twice the diameter of the small root ball. We can use a standard pot to do the transplant, or just use a large plastic cup. Just make sure to punch some holes in the bottom for drainage.

Now take the cell pack. First, squeeze the sides of it a little to help release its grip on the roots. Gently pull the plant out and scratch up the roots a bit on the sides. This will help to direct the roots to grow into the new soil more quickly. I use compost but you can also use potting soil with some balanced fertilizer added to it. Start adding this to the bottom of the pot. Place the seedling in and add further soil around it. Then press down around it.

With tomatoes, you don't have to worry about planting them too deeply. You can put them down as far as you want. The tomato stem will actually form roots if it's buried. But not all plants can do this.

When you're done repotting them, make sure to give them plenty of water so the roots don't get stressed.

It doesn't take very long at all...only a few seconds per plant. Potting up will ensure that your tomatoes continue to grow vigorously so you'll get a good jump on the season! When you finally place them in the garden, tthe rewards will be well worth that little bit of effort.

If you found this video useful and informative, please help me out by giving me a thumbs up and press that subscribe button. Share this with all your friends and let me know how potting up works for you.

Thanks again for watching...
When you Garden Well you'll Eat Well !!

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