Seedlings: To transplant or not. A dilemma

sarah465 5/8/2013, 3:32 pm

Well, I have done a silly Embarassed

: Blame it on class finals brain fry, but when we direct sowed our radish, spinach, rapini and kale seeds onto one of our 2x6 beds we sowed each type in an adjacent square instead of kitty corner like we've done in the past. So now we have 2x1 "columns" of each type of veggie.

We need to thin out all of the squares and I'm wondering if it's better to just leave the columns or to attempt to transplant (yikes!). Has anyone ever tried transplanting radish? The spinach is so delicate I think I'll leave that one alone, but I'm curious about the others. thinking

This is what it looks like now:

Seedlings: To transplant or not. A dilemma Oops10

Any ideas?
thanks

**camprn** 5/8/2013, 6:06 pm

Transplant to the spacing you would like, they will bounce back. I move small plants all the time. Hope you aced your finals! Wink

quiltbea 5/8/2013, 7:01 pm

sarah....I agree that transplanting while young should work.
But what's wrong with 2 squares of a crop in the first place? I don't see any problem with it.
I often plant mine in a 'row' of squares. Seedlings: To transplant or not. A dilemma 05-05-13

Seedlings: To transplant or not. A dilemma 05-05-13

Above: 2 squares shallots, 2 of Mizuna and next to that after the single line of radishes, is 2 squares of Tokyo bekana with 2 of Bloomsdale spinach beside those, which you can't see in the photo.
It works just fine.

What's the grater for?

sarah465 5/8/2013, 9:02 pm

camprn: thanks I'll be transplanting them tomorrow then! I did ace them and got a 4.0 for the semester Smile

woo hoo!!

quiltbea: thanks for the input, I think I'll definitely go for it Smile

I don't know that there's anything the matter with doing it that way (in rows), just that we haven't before. I think the reasoning behind going kitty corner is for pest control. That way if one square of the veggie gets hit, hopefully the one kitty corner, or a few squares down will be okay.

And the box grater is covering a lid full of borax syrup soaked cotton balls. I'm trying to get rid of the ant colony that has made the bed its home and needed to do it in a way where the neighborhood cats and our two dogs wouldn't get into it. So far it seems to be working - fingers crossed Smile

Triciasgarden 5/9/2013, 7:16 am

Clever way of covering the borax syrup cotton ball. I was wondering about the grater also! Your garden looks very nice!

BertieFox 5/9/2013, 8:00 am

Although you might get away with transplanting very young radish seedlings, you will find that the tap root is often damaged meaning you will get a very poor, twisted radish or turnip or whatever. I grow many of these in modules before planting out, but I prick them on as soon as the first seed leaves appear. Leaving them later I've found leads to misshaped roots.
As radish seed is so cheap and they grow so fast anyway, I really don't see much point in transplanting.

sarah465 5/9/2013, 2:17 pm

BertieFox wrote:I grow many of these in modules before planting out, but I prick them on as soon as the first seed leaves appear.

This is our first time attempting radish, what do you mean by "prick them on"? Thanks for the input, I think I'll leave those guys alone for now Smile

sarah465 5/9/2013, 2:19 pm

@ Triciasgarden

Thanks! My man did a lovely job building the boxes for us Smile

Hopefully we won't move before being able to get two growing years in at this house.

BertieFox 5/10/2013, 2:57 am

Maybe this is an English expression but it just means moving tiny seedling plants into larger pots or spaced out in seed trays. I guess it's called 'pricking' on as you often used a tiny stick or sharp instrument to move the tiny plants.

plantoid 5/10/2013, 3:40 am

sarah465 wrote:
BertieFox wrote:I grow many of these in modules before planting out, but I prick them on as soon as the first seed leaves appear.

This is our first time attempting radish, what do you mean by "prick them on"? Thanks for the input, I think I'll leave those guys alone for now

Sarah,
Use the back of a teaspoon handle or similar thin bladed item asa mini spade to lift the baby plant out with some soil avoid damage to the root and plant stem and re pot .

Perhaps look up " Pricking plants out of the seed bed "

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Seedlings: To transplant or not. A dilemma

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Radish and other root transplants

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"Pricking them on"

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Re: Seedlings: To transplant or not. A dilemma


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