CUH: Tomatoes - Part 2

Went back to the CUH last Saturday to transplant the tomato seedlings to bigger pots.  Was curious to see how things would pan out having done a transplanting exercise at Salt Box Farm using seedlings grown in individual plugs, and we were now up against doing the transplanting from trays containing 100 of the little guys all nestled together.

First of all..... after just two weeks the seedlings were a good 2" - 2 1/2" high and looking vigorous.  Tells you what good germination conditions can produce!  Consistent 85F and moisture and voila! 

I found the best way to get a seedling safely out of the tray and into the bigger pot was to use a spoon and pretty much scoop it out.

I could see that if we hadn't been diligent in seeding in careful rows, this step would be a real pain.  Instead, they went into the pots pretty easily, so with a bunch of us cranking away at it......

...... we were able to transplant a whole lot of seedlings in about 4 hours - about 1900 to be exact.  Had to leave about 600 for the Bellevue Demo Garden to take care of..... all of us were worn out!

These 4" pots will be sold for $2.00 each at the upcoming Master Gardener Plant Sale, to be held at the Center for Urban Horticulture on May 7th and 8th.   Mark your calendars!  With three more weeks of ideal growing conditions and tender loving care from diligent Master Gardeners, they'll be good and ready for anyone's kitchen garden.  Umpteen varieties to choose from.... oh my!

That concludes my seeding/transplanting activities.  Time to move on and seek out other interesting topics for my remaining garden assignments.  Would like to learn more about managing fruit trees/canes .....