Seed #13 - Transplant

This was my last of five sequoia seedlings that has made it this far. I transplanted it into the same soil mixture previously mentioned.

Seed #6 - Transplant

Seed #6 has always been the tallest. While under the grow lights, it's really grown significantly, now working on its first branches.

When transplanting from a cel-pack, it's important to (carefully) use a razor to cut the plastic away from the root ball. These little plants are still so delicate. If you disturb the soil, it could tear the thin root hairs - if you're lucky enough as to not snap the stem first. When cutting, you need to remember that there may be roots up against the plastic, so try to keep the razor from slicing into the soil. You're probably going to lose a few root ends, but it's better than killing the seedling all together.

Seed #5 - Transplant

Another little guy that's done just fine under the grow lights. I gotta say that if not for the lights, I think I would have lost half of my seed seedlings while on vacation. They weren't growing very fast, and the damp peat moss was starting to damp them off, rotting the roots away.

The transplanted seedlings are going to love their new soil. I have a few more that are ready to move - I'll post them as they move.

Seed #14 - Transplant

The grow lights have been kind to this little guy -
I transplanted him today as well.

It was really nice seeing the progress in the root structure. If you look closely, you can see the start of at least two branches.

Seed #9 - Transplant

It's moving day! After the seedlings have a few sets of secondary leaves, they should have enough of a root system to hold together the cel-pack root ball. I just watered my seedlings yesterday with diluted fertilizer from bottom-up, so I was pretty confident that the soil would stick. I used a razor blade to carefully cut away the cel-pack, as to not damage this little guy.

I then put together a well-drained soil mixture, consisting of:

• cheap potting soil
• vermiculite
• perlite
  
• sphagnum peat moss
• sand (just a bit)

and carefully planted this little guy in a six-inch pot.

This last photo is intentionally out of focus to show the soil mixture, rather than the seed leaves.

Seed #9 - How Quickly They Grow Up...

After three weeks under the grow lights, just about all of my seedlings have taken off, growing several sets of secondary leaves. Before the grow lights, their growth had slowed to a crawl, and they were starting to damp off.

A great way to avoid damping off is to get the seedlings to grow as quickly as possible and to transplant them out of the cel-packs after they have a few sets of secondary leaves.

Road Trip!

I'm going on a two week vacation, so I had to pack up my toddlers for someone to babysit. Believe me, this was a little embarrassing!