April is a Good Time to Transplant Your Seedlings to Pots

by Extension Master Gardener Nancy Dowling

🥕🍅 Welcome to a new column on vegetable gardening from veteran EMG Nancy Dowling,
a former coordinator at the MGNV Organic Vegetable Garden. 👩🏼‍🌾

Once your vegetable seedlings have developed a second set of leaves, transplanting is the next step.  Below, I have provided pictures of tomato seedlings in various stages of growth.  Notice that the seedlings in the foreground of the tray have well established second leaves, while the ones in the back  are still immature.  For the latter ones, waiting and patience are the only options. To transplant a seedling, gently lift the soil block out of its  cell. A plastic fork works well. The pot you choose should be able to hold a plant for the next four weeks, or until it triples in size and is ready for the next step of hardening off outside. (This will be discussed in the May article.)

Fill the pot halfway with a good transplant or potting mix, being careful to use a fresh bag meant for young seedlings. Contrary to most plants, tomatoes can be planted deeply into the soil, whereas other seedlings must be planted at the same soil level as they were in the cell they came from.  This is true now at initial transplanting and is also true when you eventually plant the tomato into your garden bed.  Plant the seedling so that the bottom leaves are above the soil level, but  not as high as they were as spindly seedlings in the cell block.  That allows the plant to mature with strong roots branching out into the pot all along the stem line up to the soil level.  Once the seedling is at the right depth in the pot, carefully fill in potting/transplant mix to a level 1/2 inch from the top of the pot.