Seedlings:
- Remove the seedling from the bag right away, water it and place it in the shade. Keep
the soil in the pot moist until you transplant it. - These plants have only lived in a greenhouse and need to be “hardened” off. This means they should be exposed gradually to increasing hours of sun over the next several days.
- Transplanting from the pot to the garden is best done on a cooler day.
- Frost will kill your seedling: No matter when you transplant-keep an eye on the forecast. Ottawa can get frost into early June. If your seedling is in the garden and there’s a risk of frost -cover it (gently-use a sheet, towel, blanket or cardboard) to protect it. Remove the covering when the risk of frost has passed.
Tomatoes:
- Expose the plant to increasing hours of sun over the next 3-4 days. (move it into the
shade for part of the day) - You can bury the tomato plant deeper by snipping off lower branches and burying the stem further underground.
- Pinch-off all suckers after transplanting and then all season, as they grow (suckers are the little branches that come up from the elbow between the stem and large branches).
- To keep the tomato upright and protect the stem as it grows, put a stake (e.g. straight stick) into the soil next to the stem. Use soft plastic ties or cloth ties and tie them around the stake and the tomato stem. Keep the ties close enough to help the stem but don’t squeeze it. You can tie the plant in a few places as it grows taller.
Peppers
- You can bury the pepper plant a couple of inches deeper than it is buried now.
- Put a stake beside the pepper plant to keep it upright and help the stem while it grows stronger. Use soft plastic ties or cloth ties and tie them around the stake and the pepper stem. Keep the ties close enough to help the stem but don’t squeeze it. You can tie the plant in a few places as it grows taller.
Enjoy your new seedling and Happy Gardening!
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