Somebody please tell me I did the right thing?!?!

I started to prick out my seedlings yesterday, moving them from either 40 cell trays or plain seed trays onwards into 9 cell trays that have slightly deeper and larger cells than the 40 cell ones.

Anyway - I did my dahlias yesterday, and they immediately showed their disdain by going a wee bit limp; I gave them a nice wee drink to bed them in, and they are no less limp today (maybe a wee bit less limp, not sure).

Today, I did some of my African marigolds (crackerjack mixed), and they too showed their disdain - now, I am a wee bit more concerned about them as I was sinking them in deeper

BEFORE



AFTER




In the second bottom picture, you can see the comparison with the ones planted deeper on the left, with those not yet touched planted on the right.

I'll come back with more about my fuchsias later

 

They don't look too happy, but I think to begin with they were a bit leggy so you have done the right thing. They will recover in a day or so, make sure you don't over water in the mean time.

BTW did you handle them by the leaves? That's the best way to hold them rather than the stems (it's very easy to crush seedling's stems without realising).

 

I handled them by the leaves as much as possible, or scooped my hand right under them (right to the bottom of the trays) and then sort of 'bounced' them gently on my hand to get the bulk of the old compost off before popping them into their new trays. For the ones with the really long stems, I stuck the root ball into a corner of the cell, and then snaked it around building up the new compost mix as I went (so the stem was in a spiral under the surface).

Jenny namaste - at sowing time, I must confess I just lobbed compost straight into trays and then sowed the seeds, no sand no nothing.

For their new trays, I have mixed the compost with some sand (roughly a 60/40 mix) which has given it a much more open texture.

I did a similar thing with my fuchsias which were looking really sorry for themselves - they have been in the same plastic cups since the back end of last year, and it was really rubbishy compost (and no sand either, as I rushed the job), then they were evicted to the greenhouse a few weeks ago; since then, I am ashamed to say that I have neglected them barring the odd skoosh with a hose.

So, I have got them out of the cups, loosened the root balls, and then planted them at varying depths depending on where the lowest signs of growth was - a couple of them had all the growth near the top of the stems, so I have put them in deep and snaked the stems round in the same way I did with the marigolds.





Next to them on the top shelf are a few trays of nasturtiums that I planted today - hopefully give them a bit of a head start before putting them in baskets as our spring is so late.

On a lighter note, my mint has returned quite strongly despite being a failure last year and my tree lillies are looking reasonably good despite still being in pots:

 

It was broadly similar in temp Mum - I had cheated and stored it in the utility room, so it wasn't just as cold as the two big bales I have had outside.

The only other thing that might have upset them a wee bit was doing them just outside the French doors with a bit of a breeze blowing - they have been indoors all their lives?

 

I hope she is kind to me Jenny, thank you - truth be told, I couldn't sit on my hands any longer, and was dying to get stuff started, not least because I am trying not to have to buy any annual plants (tight budget) so want to grow everything from seed. However, I will admit that I am still a complete novice, and very much 'hit and hope' with my methods.

No, not in the greenhouse - they have been brought on in the house, sat on shelving at the French doors, so I took each tray just outside the doors, and did them there before returning them back into the house; I sat them on the floor for a while and watered them (don't tell Mrs C!), and then shifted them back onto their shelving a bit later. All of this was done around 4-5pm, so not in the full heat of the sun.

 

They are all looking much happier today - a good watering and a nice steady bit of sun today has perked them back up

 

Thanks Harry - the only reason that I coiled some of the stems is because they were a bit on the leggy side. I am sorely tempted to evict the lot out to the greenhouse to be honest, as I think the heat of the house combined with the slightly lower light levels is the reason that they are getting leggy - I am just not overly sure that they will tolerate temps down to 5-ish degrees as we have forecast for this weekend.