Transplanting is one test of a good gardener, another is the care of the plants after they are gotten into the ground—the careful cultivation that forbids a weed to show its head above ground, or a crust to form on the soil after a rain; these two successful operations spell success in the garden—their absence failure.
For several days before the young plants in the hotbed are to be put into the ground they should be hardened by leaving the sash entirely off and by occasionally withholding water that they may be accustomed to the irregular water supply of the open ground, but the beds should be well watered the night before transplanting that the plants may absorb enough moisture to carry them through the ordeal of transplanting and that the soil may have sufficient moisture to adhere to the roots.
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The planting lines in the garden should be drawn and the holes for those plants which are to stand some distance apart—such as tomatoes, peppers and the like, should be already dug and, where extra fertilizing is called for, the hills enriched with a good spadeful of well decayed manure and the ground all ready for the plants. In this way transplanting will go forward with the least possible delay and the plants will suffer little, if any, from the change.
It is not at all necessary to wait for a rainy spell as so many think desirable; the most successful planting can be done on a clear, bright day if the work is handled properly; indeed this is just the weather that gives best results, a period of rainy weather with cloudy intervals between is also favorable except for the discomfort of working in the wet but when planting time comes one must not think too much of one's personal comfort,—it is up to one to get things into the ground and growing; we can be comfortable later on when there is time for it.
A rainy spell, broken by hot, sunshiny, muggy50 days is of all times the worst for transplanting; plants wilt and die in spite of one, fairly cooked by the hot steam engendered by the rain and sunshine, and such planting weather should be avoided unless the season is late and the planting urgent. Only as many plants should be lifted at one time as can be put into the ground before they wilt. Do not try to lift plants separately but lift them in clumps, pressing the trowel well down below the roots and lifting the plants with as little disturbance as possible—never pull up the plants by the tops as one sometimes sees done; this strips off the tender, fibrous roots on which the plant depends for gathering its food. The tap root which remains has little foraging value, it serves, principally, to hold the plant in the ground while the fine, lateral roots are busy collecting food to feed the growing top; if these little feeding roots are destroyed the plant must make a new supply before top growth can be resumed.
Do not attempt to separate the plants at once but carefully release each plant as it is required;51 in this way they retain their freshness and loss from wilting is minimized.
Make a hole large and deep enough for the roots, setting them deeper than they were in the hotbed, and fill in part of the earth, pressing it down firmly, fill in the hole with water and when it has seeped away fill in the remainder of the earth, leaving it dry, fine and smooth about the plant. Each of these three operations may be completed for the entire row of plants before going on to the next: the plants set in the hole and the first earth drawn up, then all the holes filled with water and by the time the last hole is filled the first will be ready for final filling in with earth. This is a more efficient method than to complete one hole at a time and keeps the plants in better shape.
When the whole planting of one variety of vegetable is completed go over them carefully, noting any wet spots that may appear on the surface and cover them with more dry earth. Remember that it is upon the integrity of the dry mulch that the success of the planting depends.52 Do not try to protect the plants in any way; if sufficient water has been placed in the hole, the earth firmed sufficiently and an efficient dry mulch provided the plant will be much better off than if protected in any way. Do not water after transplanting until the plants have become established and need it. If for any cause some of the plants show signs of wilting while the dust-mulch is still perfect a hole should be made at one side of the plant and water poured in, recovering the spot with dry earth. If it rains immediately after planting, clearing off with fair weather, the beds must be gone over with the scuffle-hoe to replace the dust-mulch as soon as it can be worked to advantage. One has only to bear in mind that the secret of successful planting is moisture at the roots and dry earth above to succeed.