Today I potted up my tomato seedlings from cell packs into beer cups. The plants were a month old, and started to get pretty big. I punched holes in the bottom of the beer cup, then carefully lifted out the tomato seedling from its cell pack and placed it in the bottom of the beer cup.
In some cases, it was necessary to split the side of the cell pack in order to remove the seedling without damaging the roots. On a couple of the plants, there wasn’t a lot of root development. Did you know that tomatoes will grow new roots along their stem? That’s right! It’s one of the miracles of gardening, and the reason for burying most of the stem. Once the seedling was placed in the bottom of the cup, I topped up each one up with damp pro-mix, and watered with a mild water solution containing Wegener’s organic fertilizer. I made sure to label the plants carefully. When I finished, I had 30 healthy-looking tomato seedlings in those beer cups, ready to grow more roots and ultimately become a stronger, sturdier plant. They’re happily sitting beneath the grow light in the basement for another month or more, until all danger of frost has passed and they’ve had a chance to harden off.
