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Nursery Vegetable Starts
On this page find how to transplant vegetables starts to the garden from popular 4-, 6-, or 8-pack grower containers, including:
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- How transplants are grown and moved to a home vegetable garden.
- Choosing quality plants growing in nursery bedding containers and assessing condition and health.
- How to handle and care for nursery vegetable starts until transplanting.
- How to provide long-term care for vegetable seedlings and starts until transplant.
- A step-by-step demonstration of how to transplant nursery container vegetable starts to garden soil.
About Nursery Vegetable Starts
Young vegetable plants are available in spring at garden retailers as individuals in plastic and peat pots, as well as in divided trays called 4-packs, 6-packs, or 8 packs based on the number of planting cells each contain.
Choose only healthy plants in good condition, rejecting those that are underdeveloped with only a single pair of true leaves above their round seed leaves.
Avoid leggy seedlings that have long stems with just a few leaves—probably due to insufficient light during early growth. Ignore plants with physical damage or obvious diseases, or those that have already developed flower or small fruit.
It’s important that vegetable starts not be root bound or crowded in their nursery containers prior to planting. Many growers plant 2, 3, or even 4 or more seeds in each partition. You’ll need to thin or separate the plants in overcrowded cells during transplanting.
For best value, reject any containers containing empty cells without vegetable plant starts growing in them.
Use care in handling transplants during movement and holding until planting. Water them whenever their soil dries, and keep them in a warm, well-lit area. If conditions outside remain too cool to plant, transplant them into individual pots for longer holding rather than allow them to become root bound or stunted.
The demonstration that follows provides detailed steps on how to remove plant vegetable starts from 6-pack plastic containers and methods used to transplant them into your garden’s soil.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Choose healthy plants free from broken leaves and stems, avoiding those that are yellowed, already bear flowers or fruit, or appear rootbound. Gather a trowel, a watering can, and your plants, and follow these steps:
How to Transplant 6-Pack Starts
For plants in 4–, 6-, or 8-pack containers, carefully invert the pack and gently press in on the bottom of each cell to release the seedlings into your open hand.
Avoid pulling on the plants’ stems or foliage.
Dig planting holes that are 1 in. (25 mm) deeper than the rootball’s height. Sprinkle about 1/4–1/2-tsp. (1–2-ml) of granular 5–5–5 fertilizer in each hole, adding soil to cover it.
Set plants in their hole with the soil around their rootballs level with the surrounding soil. Firm the soil and water.