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uscjusto

Transplants from nursery

uscjusto
10 years ago

Buying transplants/starts are always risky.

Would you guys rather buy:

1. Larger/stronger transplant that is possibly root bound, OR
2. Smaller/younger transplant that would be weaker when planted into the garden.

Comments (12)

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    10 years ago

    OR....larger transplants that aren't root bound or smaller, younger plants ready to explode with vigorous growth in your garden. It's NOT always risky, lol.

    I prefer the latter, myself.....mostly because I grow them myself.

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    If the plant appears healthy, doesn't appear stressed, and isn't rootbound, it doesn't really matter to me what size it is. It's not that big of a risk as long as you don't buy a plant that looks bad.

    But to answer your question, I'd rather take a smaller, weaker plant than a larger rootbound one. Not only does the smaller plant cost less if something happens to it but it also transplants better and in my experience smaller plants are usually just waiting for the opportunity to grow (depends on the type of plant).

    Rodney

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    Smaller, healthier transplants, always. An older, more rootbound transplant can be quite stunted for the rest of its life and need a much longer "recovery period" before it starts growing again. Also check the roots, gently, to see that the transplants haven't been sitting in the store getting over-loved, leading to root rot. But basically, it isn't the size/age that concerns me as much as the health.

    I don't see why a younger transplant would be weaker by definition, all plants start from seed as quite small.

  • uscjusto
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    My thumb isn't so green.

    I've lost many transplants from transplant shock and they tended to be the smaller ones that couldn't handle it.

    I'm not so good at picking out the best transplants either which is why I asked the original question.

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    The best advice I can give you on buying transplants is to buy plants that look perky and are the right color for the type of plant they are. Like you don't want to buy lettuce that looks yellow-y or limp, tomatoes with leaves that are a light green color, etc.

    Certain types of plants don't transplant well if they look weak or if they are too old. For example, brassicas, lettuce, and cucurbits. If they look weak, rootbound, or old, it's not even worth buying them because they won't grow or if they do, they won't grow well.

    If something like a tomato looks a little weak or a little rootbound (but not too old), it will most likely bounce back and grow okay because you can plant it deeper than what it was in the pot.

    Don't transplant on a sunny day, check to see what kind of light they are being grown in at the nursery (if they are in full sun then they should be okay in full sun but if they are in some type of shade they might need to be hardened off), if the plants are in a greenhouse then they will need hardened off to get acclimated to the wind and temperature fluctuations, and make sure that when you plant them that they are watered well both before and after transplanting.

    Rodney

  • gymgirl2
    10 years ago

    What theforgottenone1013 said above.

    Most seedlings from the Big Box stores have been indoors until they go on sale, just before you buy them.

    Bring them home expecting to quarantine and then harden them off BEFORE you transplant them into your garden. Acclimate them a little at a time to more and more sunlight, until they've been in direct sunlight for at least 5 days.

    Holding them in a quarantine area will give you a chance to inspect them before you transplant some seemingly innocent pest-infested plant into your carefully tended garden. When I brought them home, I washed my seedlings off with soapy water, letting a bunch dribble down into the soil as well, I dunked the entire pot, seedling and all, into the soapy water (make sure you wash the undersides of the leaves), then rinsed them off with as much of a water blast as the seedlings could stand. I kept them out of the general population for a couple days for recovery. Didn't lose a single seedling to the soap bath, either. But, sure did in a great many mealy bugs and aphids...

    Make sure to check the soil your seedling comes in, too. Buggies can be lurking there just waiting to bloom in your garden.

    I stopped buying from the Big Boxes and learned to start my own seedlings after I introduced one too many aphid and mealy bug populations into my terrain...

    If your seedling checks out A-OK after some time in the quarantine area, and after hardening off, go ahead and transplant it.

    Linda

    This post was edited by gymgirl2 on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 14:28

  • CarloMartin947
    10 years ago

    What many people do not understand is that transplants should not be watered overhead for three days after transplanting. This is because water on the leaves stimulates more leaf growth, but what you want is root growth at that time. Just water them with a tin can pinched to form a spout. Go around the new trnasplant two or three times until the soil is well watered all around its roots. That should hold it for the three days until you can water normally.

    This was a technique taught by famous horticulturist, Alan Chadwick, at his demonstration garden at UC Santa Cruz many years ago. For more on his methods, see this website: http://www.alan-chadwick.org
    Click on Techniques, then choose your topic.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick

  • nc_crn
    10 years ago

    Water on leaves do not stimulate leaf growth. This is an outdated notion from the 1960s/1970s...and probably before then, too.

    The only way this could be remotely valid is if there's an N content in the water you're applying to the leaves, and even then the effect would be minimal to non-consequence. A lot of what is/was ultimately harming a transplant from top watering after transplant is/was the additional weight on the leaves + wind keeping the seedlings from setting up strong roots because of the excessive motion if the seedlings aren't planted in strong enough soil to keep the roots relatively still. In the right medium, especially in a greenhouse setting, this point is moot and is mostly ignorable.

    That said, after transplant the most important thing to the plant is setting out new root growth and that is where the most "work" a plant will be doing is taking place.

    The mini/micro root system + hairs regenerated and growing through it's new soil after transplant is extremely important to how quickly a transplant will recover from it's "shock" and grow.

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    I don't think any of us were born with a green thumb, it's something we each (forgive the pun) cultivate. :) I just wasn't sure why smaller would equate to weaker, because as I mentioned I look for the smaller transplants at stores because they tend to be younger and more vigorous. Everyone has given good advice which might help you have better success next time. The only thing I might add is to check your transplants twice a day for 3 or so days since as small plants they can entirely dry up in a hot afternoon because of shallow roots and small reserves. They need less water but more frequently than do large plants, until established. Cheers!

  • CarloMartin947
    10 years ago

    'Water on leaves do not stimulate leaf growth. This is an outdated notion from the 1960s/1970s...and probably before then, too.'

    Thanks for bringing me up to date on this issue. I'd like to follow up on that.. Can you cite some study on the subject? How do you know that this is an outdated notion? Thanks for the help.

    Carlo

    Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick

  • nc_crn
    10 years ago

    I have no paper, but the role of water/nutrient exchange through leaves are better understood. Stomate and cuticle movement of water/nutrients take up an extremely small (practically negligible) amount of water whereas small ionic transfer of nutrients can take place.

    It was thought in the past by some that excessive rainfall or overhead watering of plants was causing excessive leaf expansion, but ultimately a big issue in plant loss was found to be the top weight keeping the roots from setting up the very important and extremely small micro/mini rooting systems that are crucial for development causing an abnormal amount of plants to not survive the seedling stage (this doesn't count abnormalities such as damping off, etc). Water film weight on leaves and the amount of top growth vs root system can be quite dramatic on top plant weight once transplanted out of a stable seedling container and into the field when wind starts kicking around unless the seedling is firmly settled into it's new home. Weight + wind in a seedling in the ground that isn't firmly settled can break small root networks before they're fully formed. The big part of root systems, even the tiny branches, aren't as important in the big picture as the extremely tiny micro/mini roots and root hairs which come in contact with more surface are in the soil. A tiny as heck small visible branch of root can have 100s-1000s of hair-or-less-sized micro-branches coming off of it...stuff that stays in the soil broken off when you pull a plant up because they're so fragile.

    When vulnerable plants are grown in a relatively wind-pressure-free greenhouse, and especially under misting systems, you don't see these issues.

    I called it an "outdated notion" because...even though I've never read an actual study about the top-watering-leaf-growth issues, I have seen it mentioned in older gardening books.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    If I were gardening where the weather was warm, growing season was long( like South and California), then I would buy smaller healthy plants. But if I was gardening somewhere that has long cool start (like Seattle, WA, wher I am), I will buy the BIGGEST seedling that I can find and afford. It makes so much difference.

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