14 



ASPARAGUS, Mary Washington 
SQUASH, Zucchini 

Transplanting 
DON’T assume that transplanting is worth doing for itself alone. 
Transplanting is like an operation to a human being: the plant 
must recover from post-operative shock before it can take hold 
and start growing again. The only value in transplanting is that 
it allows you to use larger plants—important in short seasons. 
If there is ever any question as to whether to direct-seed or to 
transplant, always direct-seed unless quicker maturity is a 
factor. Even tomatoes, the crop most often transplanted, will 
usually produce as quickly from seed sown in the open as they 
will from transplants, which must grow new roots before they 
can begin growing again. 
DO use good seedlings if you 
must transplant. They should 
be medium green in color, not 
too tall, and the leaves should 
be free from spots or dead 
areas. Avoid seedlings that are 
reddened or purplish in color, 
or show signs of yellowing (ex- 
cept in the case of celery plants, 
which can be quite yellow and 
still be good). 


If you want to grow your own 
transplants to get healthy stock, 
follow these directions: 
DON’T BEGIN too soon, unless 
you have a greenhouse or light 
hotbed and can give the seedlings 
plenty of room. For most vege- 
tables, 6 to 7 weeks is time enough 
to allow between seeding and 
transplanting. Most homes are too 
dark, so don’t try to grow seed- 
lings unless you can do it in a 
sunny window that gets direct 
sunshine for at least six hours. 
Fill shallow boxes (flats) with a 
mixture of 14% good garden soil, 
14 clean sand and 4% compost, leaf 
mould or other well-rotted organic 
matter. Make very shallow rows 
or furrows with the edge of a ruler 
or a wood lath, 3” apart. Sow 
seeds in these rows 1” apart in the 
row. For most plants, a tempera- 
ture of 70 degrees is a good com- 
promise. 
DON’T let your soil dry out, and 
don’t let it be soggy. Spray lightly 
two or three times a day, using an 
atomizer or bulb sprinkler. When 
the best seedlings can be selected, 
thinwoutetOestande2zce ton oweapare. 
Before transplanting into the gar- 
den, withhold water for 2 or 3 
days. In transplanting, set the 
plants firmly by pressing on both 
sides of the stem with forefinger 
and thumb. If not firmed thor- 
oughly, seedling may be killed by 
being hung with an air space un- 
derneath. 
Always try to save as many leaves 
and roots as possible. Scientific 
tests show that it is better to allow 
the transplant to wilt slightly than 
to remove leaves to prevent that 
wilting. Removing leaves slows up 
manufacture of plant food that 
will help plant recover. Liberal 
watering should prevent wilting. 
After Transplanting 
As soon as the garden has been 
planted, water thoroughly but 
gently with a fine spray. This, by 
the way, is the only time we 
sprinkle a garden; once the plants 
are established, any watering 
should give the soil a good soak- 
ing. If a crust forms after water- 
ing, break this by working with 
a hoe or cultivator on both sides 
of the row. 
In the case of slow-germinating 
seeds like carrots and parsnips, 
mixing a few radish seeds in the 
packet will mark the row early. 
Otherwise you may have to delay 
cultivation until too late to do a 
good job of weed control. 
DON’T take it for granted that cul- 
tivation will substitute for water- 
ing. Tests prove that pulverized 
soil loses just as much water after 
working as before. The real reason 
for cultivating is to destroy weeds. 
Weeds shade desirable plants, rob 
them of moisture and use up soil 
plant food. 
Annual weeds are usually easy to 
kill if we can keep them from 
seeding. Deep-rooted perennial 
weeds, like bindweed and Canada 
thistle, are not so easy. The sim- 
plest way to control them is to 
take the land out of cultivation 
for a year and keep spraying with 
2,4-D weed killer. If this isn’t 
feasible, and if they must be con- 
trolled by cultivation, keep tops 
cut off every two weeks. Don’t do 
this oftener, because otherwise the 
tops won’t use up the stored food 
in the root. Don’t do it less often, 
or the tops will manage to store 
new food. 
Mulching Saves Work 
Now that we know that a dust 
mulch allows just as much moist- 
ure to escape as bare, hard ground, 
cultivation should only be done to 
control weeds. A mulch, on the 
other hand, does what cultivation 
is supposed to do—it cuts down 
water loss from the surface and it 
also controls weeds. Any clean 
vegetable matter such as lawn 
clippings, chopped or whole straw 
or hay, ground corn cobs, peat, 
etc., can be used. Vermiculite, a 
mineral product used as house in- 
sulation and as poultry litter, has 
proved a valuable mulch because 
of its high water-holding capacity 
and insulating value. 
Apply these mulches when the soil 
is still moist. If applied after the 
soil dries out, they fail to function. 
Remember—a mulch does not stop 
the use of water by the plants— 
it merely checks surface evapora- 
tion and keeps down weeds. 
