In June we can place all our veggies outside. The weather does not go under the 0 celsius therefore we can leave all of our plants outside. But they have to be repotted first so they have enough nutritions to grow under the sun.
What you need
Organic soil
Small shovel
Scissor
Water
Gloves (optional)
Old paper (to cover the surface you are working on)
Pots (I like to use terracotta pots)
When do I know to repot?
By looking at the bottom of the eggshells that you have planted the seeds in you can see the roots coming through. It’s time to give them a bigger pot to grow.
Have you used another material and you can’t see the roots? The best way to know when to repot is when the cuttings are about 5-8 centimetres big.
How to repot cuttings
1. Fill empty pots with organic soil. One plant per pot!
2. Make a volcano shape in the center of the pot.
3. Cut the plant out with a scissor. Don’t worry about cutting the roots, they will not damage the plant if a little bit gets cut off. But be gentle, you don’t want to break the plant itself.
4. Place the plant (optional, with the eggshell) in the soil and cover it up with 2-3 cm of soil.
5. Add some more soil if needed and press down.
6. Give enough water to the plant. It needs a lot of water at the beginning so don’t be afraid to give it a good amount of water.
7. The plant is ready to grow more. In 3 months or so it will be big enough to be replanted again in a bigger pot where the roots have enough space to grow and have veggies growing from it.
Plants too close to each other
It happens sometimes that multiple seeds next to each other are start to grow. It is easy to just separate them by gently taking them apart.
Too much plants too few pots
It is common that more plants are starting to grow than you have initiated. I recommend choosing the biggest, strogenst and prettiest plants. These are most likely to survive and will grow faster.
You could also ask family, friends or neighbours if they would like to have one of your plants. My parents and friends always take a few and usually take good care of them.
If there are still plants over try to compost them. You can also throw the eggshells in the compost bin if they are made from natural materials.
How much water and sun?
Leave the plants on a sunny spot, vegetables need 6-8 hours of sunlight a day!
Don’t forget to water regularly! Keep the soil moist but don’t over water the plant. If you water too much the roots can start rotting or the seeds might never start growing. Don’t let it too dry either otherwise the seeds won’t start growing.
I couldn’t find soil without plastic in my neighbourhood but I reuse the plastic bag for covering plants to keep them warm in the colder nights.
Good luck and share your experiences with us!
