Getting bought seedlings into the ground: root balls, washing and hardening off

Bought seedlings most often fail in their first three days — not because they are hard to grow, but because the root ball was handled wrong, they went in too deep, or they hit full sun before acclimatising.

Check three things first: what soil the ball is made of, whether roots have escaped it, and whether the leaf undersides carry spots or eggs.

Read the root ball before touching it

• Light, loose growing-mix balls that crumble easily: plant as they are and disturb them as little as possible.
• Hard, shiny clay balls that will not break: usually field soil added for transport; it is very different from your soil and needs handling.
• In general shake off the outer hard clay and keep the soil around the roots. Full bare-rooting is only for rot, nematodes or a genuinely cemented ball — washing roots sets the plant back noticeably.

How deep: roots covered, crown clear

• The root collar should sit roughly level with the bed surface, with the growing point above the soil.
• Bury the crown and it rots: blackened, soft tissue at the centre is usually unrecoverable.
• If water exposes roots, earth them up promptly or they dry out and die.

The first three days

• Water in thoroughly, then keep watering lightly for two or three days — never bone dry, never flooded.
• Shade for 2-3 days and keep off midday sun; new leaves opening from the centre mean it has settled.
• On sandy soil, heavy watering hollows out the roots and then crusts the surface, so keep each watering small.

Grown indoors or on a balcony? Harden them off

• Seedlings raised indoors or under grow lights scorch if moved straight into open sun.
• Over the 3-5 days before planting, expose them gradually: early and evening light first, then full days.
• Oversized seedlings (stretched stems, roots filling the ball) risk bolting or stalling; judge by whether the growing point opens and new leaves extend.

Three common mistakes

• Washing every trace of the ball away for cleanliness: the worst root damage and the slowest recovery.
• Skipping shade after planting: half a day of direct sun leaves them limp.
• Pushing oversized seedlings with fertiliser: extra nitrogen invites bolting and they never size up.

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