Well, fall is just around the corner and now your thoughts can turn to a wonderful fall garden. Now is the time to start preparing your soil for late September and early October planting. It is amazing the different things that you can put in your garden that grow so well here in the fall and winter months,but more about that in the October tips!

Most of you buy transplants and seed from a reliable nursery so here are some tips for transplanting your garden plants.

Summer is never the best time to move or transplant garden plants. The sun here in Arizona is too intense and the heat is relentless. However, sometimes transplanting can’t be avoided, so here are a few simple guidelines.

1. WATER THE GARDEN PLANTS TO BE TRANSPLANTED THE DAY BEFORE YOU DO IT!! This insures that the whole plant will be hydrated, leaves and all when it’s time to transplant.
2. Dig and/or transplant during the cooler evening hours.
3. Water the plant immediately before digging or removing from its pot. Soak the root ball so that the soil will adhere to the roots, when it is put in the garden.
4. NEVER leave the roots exposed, heat or wind. Don’t remove all plants and place them in the garden. Remove just prior to planting.
5. Water the hole your plant is going into before you place the plant in it.
6. Place the transplant in the hole and fill it halfway with water. Allow the water to settle the soil around the roots and then finish filling the hole.
7. Lightly firm the soil around the transplant.
8. Once again, water the whole plant, leaves and all.
9. If possible, shield the new transplant from direct sunlight for a couple of days until it adapts to its new environment.

Transplants need watering every day for the first couple of weeks to ensure the roots don’t dry out. Depending on our hot weather you might have to even water twice a day until it gets cooler. If the plant is wilting, that is a sure sign that it needs water!

This might seem a little extreme, but the shock of being uprooted is stressful to plants anytime of the year. I recommend putting a tablespoon of Miracle Grow in a gallon of water to water your plants with for the first time. This assures that the plants will get proper nutrients they can use while adapting the to stress of being transplanted. Follow these tips and with a little luck and help from Mother Nature you should have a bountiful garden this fall.

Till next month, Farmer Darrell signing off!