So I was transplanting my four Apollo-11 plants out of their sprouting cups today, and it wasn't going very well. I'd mixed up four pots of soil and perlite, and I'm glad that my roommates were out because had they been around they'd've heard a lot of mysterious swearing coming from my room, connected with words like "root ball" and "soil everywhere!".
But now that I've calmed down a bit I thought up a new method for transplanting out of party cups that I figured I'd share with everyone here, and maybe it'll save some other people some frustration.
When you're filling the new pot with soil, first place a party cup in the middle, but with the bottom cut out. Make sure to fill that bottomless cup with enough soil that the part of your stem breaking through the soil in your sprouting cup will be level with the top of the soil in the new pot. Then, when you're going to move the plant, just cut the bottom of that cup out as well, and then cut a single line up the side of the cup (making sure that you're holding it tightly, so the soil doesn't just spill out).
Finally, position the sprouting cup over the cup in your new pot, and slowly release the pressure, allowing the plant to move gracefully downward into its new home. Then you can lift the positioning cup out, and presto! A plant, buried at the proper depth, in a new pot with no frustration and without even exposing the roots at all. I wish I'd thought of it earlier today...
05-07-2008, 03:51 AM
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