Are you trying to move to your new home and you want to move together with your garden plants or maybe you started some seeds indoors and now you want to transplant the seedlings to your garden?
Whatever may be the transplanting reason, in this article, you are going to learn how to transplant plants without killing them.
For the sake of this article, I’m going to discuss how to transplant plants:
- From container to garden
- From one garden spot to another
- From one home to another
But, before we jump right in, there are few important things you need to know about transplanting plants and these are favorable climatic seasons and times of the day for transplanting the plants.
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Best Time to Transplant Plants
The right time for transplanting plants in the spring before summer takes in. Another season favorable for plants transplanting is the fall.
In general, the rule of thumb is not to transplant your plants during the hot weather, which usually comes in the summer.
This is because during the summer or hot weather, water usually evaporates from the soil easily and this may cause transplant shock, which in turn may lead to wilting and drying up of plants.
However, if you have no other options but to transplant plants during the hot weather, then you need to frequently water the plants both before and after transplanting.
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Best Time of the Day to Transplant Plants
The right time for transplanting plants during the day is normally around early morning or late afternoon through evening. During this time of the day, the sun has started cooling down and the ground temperature is also cooled when compared to the temperature during the afternoon.
Knowing the right season and time of the day for transplanting plants is good as it will help you avoid stressing the plants. Learn more on the best season for transplanting plants from here and here.
Now, let us look at how to transplant plants from container to garden spot.
How to Transplant Plants from Container to Garden
Here is the step by step guide to transplanting plants from container to garden spot without killing them:
1. Prepare the Garden Spot: you need to first prepare the garden spot where you want to plant your garden plants after removing them from the container.
Do not remove the plants from the pot without preparing the new garden spot. Plants need to be planted immediately after uprooting from their normal spots. This way, the plants cannot suffer much stress as a result of transplant shock.
2. Dig the holes: after preparing the new garden spot, you need to dig holes according to the number of plants you want to transplant. Dig a hole, which is equal to two times the size of the root bulbs of the plants.
3. Put the Seedlings’ entire pot in water: do not just remove or uproot the plants from their pots. You want to uproot the plants together with the soil that covers the root bulbs. To do this easily, you need to immerse the entire container of the seedlings in water leaving only the dirt line above the surface of the water.
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Allow the pot to remain in the water until no water bubbles are seen on the surface of the water. You can alternatively wet or moisten the pot by gently adding water to the potting soil and give it some time to soften. However, immersing the pot in water is more effective than the second option.
4. Remove the Seedlings from Pots: by now the soil in the container is loose or soft. Now, turn the container containing the seedling upside down and gently dump the seedling together with the soil onto your hand.
Please, avoid pulling on the seedlings just to get them out. What you need to do is to gently shake the container from the bottom of the pot. Then, thereafter, dump the plant alongside the soil that covers the root bulb.
5. Create a hole from the Root Bulb Bottom: tear a small portion of the root bulb bottom to increase the water, nutrients, and air absorbing capacity of the roots.
6. Transplant the Seedlings: carefully place the seedlings into the holes and fill the remaining space with soil and organic compost. It is recommended that you should not pack the soil super tightly.
7. Water Gently: moisten the garden ground by gently spraying it with water. Avoid damping up of water.
And that is it. You have successfully transfer your plants from the container to the garden spot. What is left is to take good care of your plants by timely spraying with water until they are fully acclimatized to the new environment.
Now, it is time to look at how to transplant plants from one spot to another spot.
An image showing the right way to uproot plant with the root bulbs
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How to Move a Plant from one Spot to Another
Here is the step by step guide about moving plants from one spot to another:
1. Prepare the New garden Spot: clear the new garden spot by removing grasses, weeds, and other large rocks and debris. Water the garden spot to moisten and cool down the ground. Learn more on how to prepare a new garden spot.
2. Dig holes: after preparing the new garden spot, allow the ground to cool down for about 8 hours. You need to prepare the garden spot in the morning or the day before planting.
For example, if you prepare the new garden in the morning, you can plant in the evening of the same day.
If you prepare the garden spot during the morning, you need to dig holes in the evening. Just as we described under moving plants from container to garden spot, even here you need to dig holes equal to two times the size of the root bulbs.
3. Remove the plants from the ground: do not uproot your plants by pulling. Instead, use a hand shovel and form a ring around each plant. Then, gently use the hand shovel to remove the entire plants’ root bulbs together with the soil that covers the root bulbs. If you pull the plants forcefully, the plants may end up dying.
4. Moisten the holes: spray the holes where you want to plant your garden plants with water.
5. Place the plants and fill them with soil: place the plants into the drugged holes gently and fill the remaining space that is covered by root bulbs with soil.
6. Water the ground: moisten the ground gently with water. This helps keep the plants strong by preventing them from the effects of solar heat.
7. Take care of the plants: watch your new garden closely so that you will avoid donating your plants to rodents and other pests.
Water timely especially during the first week through the second week. Watch for weeds and grasses in the garden and remove them. This can help prevent both weeds and grasses from competing with your garden plants against nutrients and space.
Follow this step-by-step guide to migrate your garden plants from the old spot to the new garden spot successfully.
This is for migrating plants from one garden spot to another. What if you want to change home and you also want to go alongside your garden plants?
Here is a step by step guide on how to move plants from one house to another:
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How to Move House Plants without Killing Them
Before you start parking your plants, it is important to find out whether the climatic conditions of the new home you want to move to are favorable for the growth and production of your plants.
If the climatic conditions of your new home are not favorable for the plants, you will only waste your time and energy when you move them. Because the plants may die up of harsh weather that they were not used to.
Additionally, it is also important to find out whether laws allow the transportation of your plants across states and borders. Some countries and states have strict laws on the importation of plants. And they mostly do this to prevent the spread of pests and diseases.
So, consult or personally contact the law agency of the new home whether they allow plants to be transported to their areas.
With this information in mind, here is a step by step guide on how to move plants from one home to another home:
- Prepare the garden spot
- Transport the plants
- Dig hole for plants
- Give the plants a shower
- Moisten the ground
- Take care of the new garden
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1. Prepare the new garden spot: read our detailed guide on how to prepare a new garden spot.
2. Transport the plants: when you plan on migrating your plants, ensure that you water the plants. Additionally, if your plants include plants with bare roots such as shrubs, roses, and fruit trees, make sure you soak the roots of these plants in water for at least two hours prior to the time of transportation.
Additionally, if the plants are bushy with many leaves and dead leaves, make sure you trim those leaves and stems. This can greatly help reduce the injuries and transportation jolt that the plants may encounter along the way.
If you are not moving the plants in pots, which means you are migrating from a garden spot to your new home, in this case, you need a special plants transportation container called burlap.
You can also use buckets. However, the burlap is prepared because it has spaces where air can go in and out.
After uprooting the plants, water them gently and wrap the root bulbs in the burlap for the movement.
While you are on the way, make sure the plants are receiving timely watering using a sprayer with fine nozzles. This can help the plants to restore their vigor and lower the risk of wilting.
3. Dig holes for the plants: ensure the holes are created for the plants in your new garden before you plan the transportation.
This ensures that the plants are replanted immediately after arrival. This can also increase the number of plants that will survive.
4. Give plants a shower and replant: after your arrival to your new home, give your plants a little shower to revive them before replanting.
Replant them by gently placing them into their respective holes. But, make sure you spray the holes with water before replanting. Learn more about how to plant seeds or transplants
Then, fill the remaining spaces with soil. As stated earlier under the previous heading, avoid filling the soil super tightly.
5. Moisture the ground: wet the ground of the garden after replanting. This can be done by gently spraying with a sprayer with fine nozzles. But, you always need to avoid overwatering the plants.
6. Take care of the new garden: you know these plants pass through many stress such as transportation jolt and replanting shock, and therefore it is good that you give them extra care by timely watering and closely watching them how they will adapt to the new climatic conditions.
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Wrapping Up
Transplanting may sometimes be overwhelming especially if you are a beginner at gardening. This is because moving plants from their original spot to another is always no beginner’s friendly. From uprooting the plants and watching to acclimatize to the new environment.
All these transplanting tasks, we looked at them one after the other in a step-by-step guide while discussing relevant headings in the post.
I hope the post will be of excellent help to you in understanding how to transplant without killing them. We would love to hear from you. So, let us know in the comments section below.
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