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*What is transplanting?* ➡️ Finding a new home for your seedlings ➡️ Building a raised bed ➡️ Caring for your garden outside

⌛ Time estimate: 10 minutes

🔊 Prefer to listen to the audio version of this section? Click over here to play it! 👂 ➡️

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What is transplanting?

Transplanting is the act of moving seedlings or small plants from their mini pots into larger pots, a raised bed, or an outdoor garden. 🧑‍🌾

We started indoors, because it is usually easier to start your seeds indoors (or in a greenhouse) because it allows you to control the temperature, and increases the chance of your seed growing 😄!

Why do we need to transplant?

We need to transplant our seedlings from cups into a larger garden, so their root systems can continue to grow and expand. 💗

Their root systems need more space, so the plant needs to be nice and secure in the larger soil area before it starts to grow upwards! ⬆️

When do we transplant?

Before moving our little seedlings outside, we want to make sure they are ready! Here are a couple of things to check ✅ if they are ready to be taken outside and start their journey into becoming an adult plant! 🪴

1. Wait until the seedlings have 3-4 true leaves before planting

It is super exciting to see your seeds grow their first few leaves 🍃! However, the leaves that grow first are not true leaves, but still part of the seeds embryo. You want to wait until the plant continues growing and has more leaves that are branching out of the main stem.

⬅️ These seedlings are ready for transplanting!

How do you know if the seedling has its “true” leaves? The true leaves will form out of the initial baby leaves, and will look a bit different! They may have sharper edges or a different shape than the first time the seedling sprouted leaves.

2. Hardening Off

Before you transplant, there is also a process called hardening off. Hardening off is when your seedlings becomes stronger by slowly getting used to the change in weather before moving outside.

• 💡 One way is by moving the seedlings outdoors to a partially shaded area for a few hours a day then bringing them back indoors afterward, gradually increasing their amount of time outside and sun exposure by 1 – 2 hours each day. Do this for 7 to 10 days and they should be ready to move into the garden, assuming the soil is dry enough. If a few inches of soil sticks to the bottom of your shoe when you step in the garden, it is too wet for transplanting.

3. Work with your plant’s weather preferences

First, you need to check if you are growing ❄️ cool-weather or 🌞 warm-weather plants. This will determine when you should start growing outside 🌤️. Some plants, like broccoli 🥦, can withstand a little frost, where others like tomatoes and peppers cannot.