Planting Seeds or Transplants

Now that your bed is full of the perfect dirt, you need to plant your garden. It can be confusing because there is so much mulch and this is very different from traditional gardening. Never fear, just move the mulch aside til you get to your composted dirt, push a small hole in the compost and add your seed, cover lightly and tamp down gently so the compost has good contact with the seed. Larger seeds need to be planted slightly deeper and tiny seeds usually just need to be lightly mixed with the soil. You should not plant any seeds deeper than 1 1/2 inches. Leave the mulch pushed aside until your plants are established at which point you can move it back around the plant. This usually takes 3-4 weeks from planting for germination and the plant being strong and tall enough to have the mulch pushed around the base.

When planting transplants, I always recommend getting the cell packs that come with 6-9 small plants. Smaller plants suffer less transplant shock and usually are not root tied. So you don't want to get plants that are really big in the cell packs, you want them to be fairly small. Again, move aside the mulch and plant into the compost. Open a hole large enough to sit the plant into the dirt just above the top of the potting mix from the cell. If you are planting tomatoes, you can make the hole wider or deeper and lay the plant side ways or otherwise ensure that you cover some of the exposed stem. Tomatoes will grow roots wherever the stem touches the dirt so this will ensure a stronger root system for your tomatoes. Most other plants don't do this so you must plant them even with the top of the dirt. If you plant them too deep the stem could rot and kill the plant.

Once you are finished planting, water in your new plants and seeds very well. You will need to make sure your seeds stay damp for two weeks while they germinate and establish their root system. Plants you usually just need to watch for a week to make sure they stay damp enough. Once established your mulch layer will help retain moisture so you don't need to water so often.