Written and edited by Tammy 28th September 2024
Despite the cool, mild and gloomy start to Spring we’ve had so far here in our region, summer vegetable seedlings are flooding into garden centres everywhere.
Tomatoes in all your favourite varieties, cucumbers, zucchinis, pumpkins, chillies and capsicums.
Let's not forget these sturdy, healthy and robust, these little seedlings have been given every opportunity for the best head start, germinating in greenhouses with controlled conditions, shielded from harsh winds, extreme temperatures, frosts, pests, and diseases.
So, once we get them home, how do we give them the best chance to thrive and be successful?
Seedling success tips
1. Selection
If you know what day of the week your local garden centre gets their fresh stock in, take advantage of that and go in that afternoon to have the 'pick of the crop' so to speak.
Make sure you choose fresh, healthy strong looking seedlings. Avoid anything that looks sickly, limp, or diseased.
2. Climatise
If you are buying them now, it's still early in the season, consider keeping them inside in a bright windowsill for a few more weeks, then progress them out onto the back porch as the days become consistently nicer, before finally planting them out into the garden. Climatising them gradually can help avoid sending them into shock due the extreme change in environment.
3. Prepare the ground
Before planting them out, prepare the area well. Incorporate lots of organic matter, compost, aged animal manure, some blood and bone. Remember to add gypsum if you have heavier clay soils as gypsum aids drainage.
4. Location
Planting your veggie patch in the right part of your yard can also have a huge baring on its success. Most cropping plants need atleast 6-8 hours of sunlight per day to successfully produce good yields. Pay attention to which side of your house get the beautiful sun most of the day and look to establishing your garden bed there.
If it's not practical to do so or your soil conditions are less than ideal, consider a raised garden bed, or large containers. Using large pots or containers also gives the advantage of being able to move them from one location to the next if need be.
5. Timing
Plant your seedlings early in the day when the weather is nice, sunny and mild, so they have time to acclimatise before the cold and damp of the evening sets in.
6. Handle with care
Like all babies, they're fragile, handle them with care. Avoid damaging or disturbing their delicate root systems. Don't be tempted to try and separate the likes of spring onions or carrots, leave them be, they will sort themselves out (survival of the fittest) you can remove any smaller struggling ones as they begin to mature.
7. Support
Some vegetables love to climb, peas, beans, cucumbers and indeterminate varieties of tomatoes. Make sure you provide them with a stake or trellis to help support them as they grow.
Click the link here 👇😁 to head over my Facebook page and check out a small clip I shared last season explaining which varieties of tomatoes grow taller and require staking while other remain smaller bushes.
8. Frost prevention
Monitor the weather forecast and have a survival plan in place. This probably sounds silly, but in reality, it's not! Spring always sees multiple nasty frosts here in our region, not to mention days of hot Northerly winds. A good frost will wipe out your vegetable patch in one night, so cover them up with frost cloth, some containers or milk bottles, or whatever you have available.
9. Hydration
Always water your new seedlings in well with a solution of Seasol Health Treatment, looking for air bubbles to confirm they're watered thoroughly and there are not dry spots in their soil at the root zone.
Adding Seasol health Treatment helps avoid transplant shock, boosts the plants immune system and stimulates the roots to get growing.
Be consistent with your watering rescheme, if you're not consistent a whole host of issues can arise. Stunted poor growth, wilting, shrivelled small fruit and even split skins.
10. Nutrition
Feed feed feed!! would your kids grow on an empty tummy? no, and neither will your seedlings. Feed weekly with a readily available soluble fertiliser high in nitrogen for foliage development such as Seasol Powerfeed, alongside a slow-release organic fertiliser such as Neutrogs Rapid Raiser. As your plants reach maturity and change to reproductive Potassium becomes important for fruit and flower development, so look for that branded Potash, such as Yates liquid Potash.
Which fertiliser should I use?🤷♀️ 👈👀Check out this post here
11. Mulch
Mulch generously around your little seedlings with some Rocky Point Sugarcane, it's a nice fine chopped up mulch that will pack neatly in and around them. Mulching not only insulates them, aid in water retention and prevent dehydration, but as it breaks down it continues to feed your soil.
12. Pest & Disease Prevention
Finally, be vigilant and constantly on the lookout for pests, diseases and disorders. Hungry slugs, snails and earwigs will devour seedlings almost overnight, powdery mildew and rust are common fungal infections that will require a fungicide, and plants that generally look sad and aren't performing well, may have issues with inconsistency of water availability or even toxicity. If you're unsure, you're always welcome to contact me for more advice, or if you live in my neck of the woods...you'll most likely know where to find me 😜🪴
Without a doubt, if your taking onboard and implementing these 12 tips, you're going to be rewarded with a bountiful patch full of fresh produce to keep you going all season and perhaps even enough to share around with friends and family, there's nothing more rewarding!
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your gardens. 😘🌸🌱
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