Once your seedlings begin to emerge, you should remove the plastic and move your container to an area that receives indirect light. Make sure your potting mix remains moist, however, but do not allow it to become wet.
When your seedlings first start to poke through your potting mix, they will look curled. As they grow, they will start to unfurl and straighten out. You will most likely notice what seems to be two leaves emerging from your plant. In actuality, these are not leaves.
Transplanting Your Seedlings
Rather, they are cotyledons, which is the part of the seed that provides food to your plant until the true leaves develop and the plant begins making its food through photosynthesis. When the true leaves appear, you should move your seedlings to a direct light source.
Your seedlings will require about twelve to eighteen hours of light every day. They require such a long amount of light because artificial light and the light from the winter sun are both not intense enough to compete with the summer sun.
To ensure your seedlings receive enough artificial light, attach the light to an automatic timer that turns itself on in the morning and shuts itself off at night.
Now that the true leaves have appeared, and because your seeds are currently planted in a soilless potting mix, you will also need to provide your seeds with a supplemental feeding. Be sure to select a fertilizer that is well balanced or that is high in potassium and nitrogen, as this will encourage healthy growth and strong roots.
Transplanting Your Seedlings
It is ok to leave your seedlings in their original containers until it is time to move them to their permanent outdoor location. In some cases, however, it may be best to transplant the seedling to a larger pot after the seedling grows to a couple inches tall and has formed many sets of leaves. Transplanting the seedling to a three or four inch pot gives its roots more room to grow.
Thinning Out the Seedlings
Since you planted several seeds in each of your pots, you may find that more than one plant has successfully started to grow. Now, it is time to thin them out. Keeping more than one seedling in a pot will cause them to fight for nutrients, water, and sunlight – which can cause all of the plants in the pot to die.
You can attempt to separate the seedlings into separate pots, but the better choice is usually to cut away the weakest plants and leave only one. In this way, the roots of the plant you keep will not be disturbed. For the same reason, you should never attempt to pull out the extra plants, as the roots of the plant or plants you remove may be wrapped around the one you wish to keep.
Putting Your Seedlings Outside
By the time it is the proper outdoor planting time for your seedling, you should have grown a strong, healthy plant. Before you place them in your garden, however, you need to get the plants accustomed to outdoor conditions. To do this, you will need to gradually introduce your plant to the outdoors through a process called hardening off. By hardening off your plant, you give it the opportunity to become acclimated to the outdoor drying winds, sunlight, and changes in climate.
To harden off your plant, place it in a shady spot outside. Over the next several days, gradually increase the amount of sun your plant receives. If it looks like there will be a drop in temperature, however, cover your plant or bring it indoors until the temperature change has passed.
You should gradually increase the amount of time your plant spends outdoors, as well as the amount of sunlight it receives. When you notice that your plants are growing strong, you can finally plant it outdoors. Be sure to water the plant thoroughly before you transplant it, and then water it thoroughly again after placing it in the ground. Also, do not transplant it at the sunniest time of the day, which is around mid-day.
