Plants Go To College

Since I posted last, I've started slowly repotting my seedlings into larger pots. Slowly, because I was afraid that I'd do it wrong and kill everyone at once. Instead, did a couple a day and watched them to see if the new soil killed them or if they suffered some other unforeseen consequence of change.

I started with the second most healthy ones and when they survived, moved on to most healthy. Then down the chain until I got tired of cutting drainage holes into Solo Cups.

Once I had a good amount of them into new homes, I started the process of "hardening off", putting them in the real world for a couple hours at a time. Then, Sunday May 15, I let them stay outside all day while I went to Waterbury to play disc golf. Of course, it hailed that day.

Somehow the seedlings were fine and I left them out one or two more days while I went to work. Then came this weekend where I would be going away for three full days. I kept the plants inside but SOAKED them with water. I came home on Sunday night and BLAMMY they were huge!

Look at these little kids, all grown up and drinking from Solo Cups (!!)

The interesting thing is that the seedlings that I left in the starter pack are still very much alive, they are just not getting any bigger. These two cherry tomato plants were planted on the same day and got the same water and same sunlight. 

I think there's a metaphor in here somewhere about how there's nothing like moving to a new place to grow, but that would just be entirely too relevant to the way I've been feeling lately.