Re: Transplanting (was: What am I doing wrong?)

Well, Glider, FWIW, I wouldn't remove soil from a transplant unless
there were some really specific reason for doing so, i.e. the soil
the plant came in was infested with something noxious (pathogen,
insect, vegetable or mineral) or of a horrible consistency or the
plant was a known scree type plant and came in your basic peat based
potting mix.  

The only other time I have removed all soil is when I have been
tremendously dilatory about potting up and have a pot full of
seedlings with intertwined roots.  It's easier to separate them under
water than it is by just shaking them apart...not the best plan, but
better than simply tearing them apart.  If one is intelligent enough
to plant seeds in orderly rows to begin with, then cutting them apart
in neat little squares with a sharp knife is preferable to removing
soil and disentangling them...but one has to have one's brain working
at the beginning for this to happen, and mine is often on hold
somewhere.

You are correct, even a gentle removal of soil damages the
microscopic feeding roots.  Plant roots were not designed to be
mucked about with, no matter how gently we thing we're doing it.  
Plants are resilient creatures, for the most part, and  can put up
with a certain amount of root damage - as in division - and
recover....but they are not fond of it.  Root damage that occurs when
a plant is in full leaf growth is the worst - from a plant's
perspective - since it makes it very hard for them to provide their
leaves with sufficient moisture for them to function properly.  There
are times in many plants lives when they are in between spurts of
root growth and are not as vulnerable to our playing with their
roots.  Any time you want to play with roots, doing so just before a
plant intends to start growing some new ones is the best time.

If one plants something grown in a loose, highly organic mix in a
hole dug in solid clay (with smooth sides), the plant will have a
great deal of difficulty working its roots into the clay soil and may
end up never doing so and thus not thriving or simply dying.

It is true that extreme differences in soil texture will inhibit
plants from extending their root systems.  However, one of the basic
tenants of good gardening is to adequately prepare the soil where you
intend to plant something - the old $5.00 hole for the $2.00 plant
idea.  If you prepare your soil properly - double digging, tilling or
very good single digging with the incorporation of organic amendments
- then a plant in any kind of potting medium will be able to work its
roots out into the surrounding soil.

I have read a substantial number of essays and posts about findings
that trees and shrubs do better in unamended soil.  But they all
emphasize digging over a large area around the new plant so that the
roots can move out of the original root ball easily.   Digging ground
may momentarily disturb soil microbes, but they soon return to normal
and it has been shown over and over that good soil tilth benefits
plants.  No dig or no till is good for field crops in that it reduces
soil erosion and it can work in vegetable gardens that have been
double dug to start with and are under continual heavy mulch...if the
soil is already so soft you can plant with your hands...but for
ornamentals, I don't buy it at all.

Personally, the only things I'd plant in a hole made with a bulb
planter are bulbs....everything else deserves a proper hole, properly
prepared.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: Glider Onair <glider@yage.net>
> Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 8:10 PM
> 
> Some one mentioned that gently hosing off the dirt from a plants
roots was
> beneficial in transplanting out into the ground.  They suggested
that this
> helped prevent the plant from remaining in a "pot" due to the
differences
> of the two soils (ie. the soil in the garden vs the potting mix).
> 
> Now this is in direct contradiction to some of what I've read/heard
> elsewhere.  The argument I've heard before is that tilling the soil
> disrupts the naturally occurring microbes, and that removing the
dirt from
> the transplant's roots causes small but significant damage to the
roots.
> I've even had it recommended to me that a plug be removed from the
sod with
> a tulip bulb planter, and the transplant be planted, root ball,
dirt and
> all, in the space created.
> 
> As for myself, I find that tilling the ground multiple times before
> planting, several weeks apart, greatly discourages weeds.  Then
again if I
> was more enthusiastic about mulching I wouldn't have to worry....
> 
> Er, I suppose I should mention that I have my vegetable garden in
mind as I
> write this, as it would probably not be a wise idea to rototiller
up the
> ground in which the apple trees are planted.
> 
> Anyone have any opinion on this that they would like to share with
us?
> 
> Thanks for flying,
> Glider

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