Has your inner gardener got the best of you and you bought too many plants with no place to put them straight away? Or is the weather just not playing along?
Whatever the reason, here are a few tips to keep your plants alive and healthy until you’re ready to get busy in the garden:
Firstly, keep your seedling or established plants upright at all times. Sit the base of your seedling bundles (still wrapped in their newspaper) in a saucer or ramekin with a little bit of water - but not too much water, you don’t want them to drown!
During winter keep your seedling bundles in direct sunlight. But in summer it’s best to keep them in an area that has part shade.
Your established plants can remain in their bags for a month, but each plant varies. It is best to get them in the ground before they become root bound. A good way to test this is to feel the bag, if it is hard like a rock then the roots have been established and removing the bag could damage the plant.
You should only leave your seedlings or established plants like this for a few days at most. When you’re ready to plant, dip the complete base of the seedlings in water. This will speed up the germination process, which leads to a faster growing plant and, in turn, a happy gardener.
If you’re unable to plant your seedlings in their permanent location for more than a few days or a week you should ‘heel’ the plants in soil. Heeling plants involves temporarily storing a plant in soil until its ready to be planted in its permanent spot. (This doesn’t apply to established plants.) This will ensure your seedlings remain healthy and continue growing. It also provides an extra layer of protection for their roots and gives you a bit more time to prep your garden. Remember, before you heel your seedlings, remove the newspaper.
During summer, the plants can be heeled for about a month and in winter you can leave them in the ground for the entire season.
Once you’re ready to plant them in their permanent location, carefully use a trough to dig them out without damaging their roots.
