I was just about ready to transplant some seedling PSB into a 9 cell tray and it occurred to me that it might make a helpful ‘how-to’. Here we go.
Not all of the steps come with photos. This one you will have to imagine. The seedlings are ready to transplant when then have at least one set of true leaves and I prefer to wait until the second pair are showing.
Knock them out of the pot by cradling the seedlings upside down with the stems resting between your index and forefinger. Give the pot a gentle squeeze and shake and hey presto, you’re holding a dozen baby plants upside down.
The next bit seems scary, but do it gently and it’s fine. Use both thumbs to loosen and break apart the root ball. This will make it easier to tease out the plants you want to pot on.
Once I had done all of that, I had a hand free to take a photo of progress so far…
So that’s one in. These seedlings have long roots; use your finger to make a deep hole in the soil. Then lift the selected seedling by a leaf – a damaged leaf will recover but the stem won’t = dead plant 😦 Lower into the hole as far as it will go, ideally upto the seedling leaves and firm in. Left-handed photography is much harder than transplanting seedlings!
Keep going, selecting the strongest plants until all nine cells are full. Water and harden off – in a place where the pigeons and geese can’t reach them.
Allotment Life 