The Next Step for our Mauao Seedlings

Today was an exciting day for us all as our Mauao seedlings were ready to be transferred into individual pots. This is known in gardening-speak as ‘pricking out’. Over the last three months the seeds have become strong, healthy seedlings, which was very exciting for us to see. However they were getting very squashed together so it was definitely time to give each seedling its own space to grow.

We learned how to use ice blocks sticks to gently tease the roots out of the soil, and to hold the seedlings very gently by their stems so as not to damage the roots. We filled the pots 3/4 full with potting mix, made a hole in the middle and placed the seedling in very carefully, making sure the hole was deep enough that the roots wouldn’t be squashed up or left on the surface. Then we filled the pots the rest of the way and watered the seedlings in. The final step was putting our names onto each plant we’d worked on, so we can plant out our own seedlings onto Mauao in future.

Whaea Clare says “It was lovely to see the pride the tamariki took in the seedlings and how much aroha they gave them.”