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Transplanting Greenhouse Crop of Lettuce Sprouts

February 16, 2013 by Laura Blodgett 1 Comment

lettuce seed germination test after about 2 weeks
lettuce seed germination test after about 2 weeks

Today, I finally transplanted some of my lettuce sprouts from the seed germination test. The results of the test were

  • that the regular 2010 and 2011 seeds sprouted well.
  • Anything older than that had significantly less sprouting.
  • I mislabeled the pelleted seed as 2018! But checking the seed packet proved that it did not actually time travel and was from 2011. I only got 2 sprouts in that row, and belatedly, so I’m hypothesizing that the pelleting doesn’t age as well as plain seed. It looked like the moisture just wasn’t able to break it down.
lettuce seed germination test a few days later
lettuce seed germination test a few days later

The seedlings that did sprout were beginning to look crowded, so I knew I needed to transplant ASAP. Fortunately, I know that transplanting the little guys is not as touchy as you might think by looking at them. All you need is

  1. a popsicle stick,
  2. extra pots, and
  3. moistened soil.
use popsicle stick for transplanting small seedlings
use popsicle stick for transplanting small seedlings

Even if the plants were right next to each other, the popsicle stick could be stuck down into the slightly damp potting soil about one inch to half an inch from the plants.  It was then used to lift up the section of  soil.  With the end of it, or with my fingers, I then gently teased apart the roots of adjacent plants, if necessary.  It is important to ONLY hold the plant by a leaf for this process.  Neither the roots nor the stem are strong enough and will be easily bruised or crushed by handling.  The plant cannot live without a stem or the main root structure.  A little bit of torn leaf will not set it back much.

hold small transplants lightly by a leaf
hold small transplants lightly by a leaf

The roots on most of the little lettuces were amazingly well developed, but I even transplanted several of them that were less filled out. Still holding the plant by the leaf, I dangled the roots into a hole that was nearly as long and a bit wider than they were.

roots on a lettuce sprout
roots on a lettuce sprout

Then, I used the other hand to toss more moistened seedling starter potting soil into the pot around the roots. I tamped it down and and up against the stem and roots without applying very much pressure to the plant.

putting the lettuce sprout into the pot
putting the lettuce sprout into the pot

 

setting the roots down into the hole
setting the roots down into the hole
filling in with potting soil while still holding plant up by a leaf
filling in with potting soil while still holding plant up by a leaf

 

some final light pressing of the soil around the lettuce seedling
some final light pressing of the soil around the lettuce seedling

All that was left was to give the newly transplanted sprouts a misting, enough to help the soil settle in a bit more and get some water to the mildly stressed roots.

I have only transplanted 4 of the varieties so far. The masking tape labels that were on the side of the original tray were transferred to the transplant tray. Both trays of transplants are under the lights again.

one tray of transplanted lettuce next to the tray used for the germination test
one tray of transplanted lettuce next to the tray used for the germination test

You can see that I still have quite a few lettuces that I could transplant, if I decide to.  All of these newly transplanted varieties have the potential to get much larger than the Tom Thumb lettuce that I grew the first time around.  Here is how it looks as several of the plants are partially grown back after picking for tacos a week ago:

greenhouse lettuce growing back after surviving taco frenzy
greenhouse lettuce growing back after surviving taco frenzy

If it happens that the weather gets to be perfect for lettuce outside, such that I see lettuce volunteers already growing, I may plant a few of these out there and compare how they grow with the ones in the greenhouse. Meanwhile, I have a small chance of having enough lettuce on hand in a few weeks to satisfy a certain lettuce eater in my house (you know who you are). 🙂

Filed Under: Gardening in Southwest Idaho, In My Greenhouse, Inside the Homestead Tagged With: southwest Idaho gardening

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