After thinning and potting on seedlings, you should be left with vigorous young plants ready to transplant into their final location in the soil or a container to grow to maturity. You might also be transplanting bought plants.
Why transplant
Transplanting suits plants that need large spacing, eg cabbage plants can be transplanted into the soil from pots or a seedbed when 10cm tall to 30-45cm apart. This is rather than sowing seed direct into their final location. In this way, transplanting allows you to make the most of available space, eg you can grow quick maturing crops such as radish or raise other plants before you need the soil/space for containers for the transplants. Transplanting doesn’t suit crops that need very close spacing or longer root vegetables, where sowing direct and thinning is usually best instead.
How to transplant
The trick with transplanting is to minimise ‘transplant shock’ by being gentle. You should also harden off plants to gradually acclimatise them to the new growing environment, eg from a windowsill or greenhouse to the colder outdoors. Without this step, plants may be damaged by the sudden change in growing conditions, sometimes slowing growth for several weeks or even dying.
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