Gardening With Kids – Part 2: Replanting The Tomato Plants
In case you've missed out Gardening With Kids - Part 1: The Balcony Garden Project.
Just 3 days after we planted the tomato seeds, they sprouted! That was a joyful day in our household as our daughter could hardly contain her excitement. She was carefully watering the sprouts every morning and evening and she was eagerly waiting for the day when the sprouts were finally ready to be replanted.
When the spouts were about a week old, we decided to move them into their permanent growing place. We have a veg trug planter box on our balcony, so that's what we used, but any pot that can contain enough soil would do.
We filled the Vegtrug with BioChar Soil Mix 2, a product formulated by Dr Francis Ng, the creator of the 1 Utama Secret Garden. BioChar Soil Mix 2 is lightweight as it mostly contains carbon, so we didn't have to struggle taking it upstairs into our apartment or lift it high enough when dumping it into the Vegtrug. BioChar Soil Mix 2 doesn't require mixing with other products and it is a perfect soil mix both for germination and rooting.
Once we had the soil mix in the planter box, we were ready to replant the sprouts. We carefully removed the sprouts from the egg carton and our daughter helped us put them into the Vegtrug. She needed a little step to stand on, but since the planter box is sturdy, she was safe.
We let her dig little holes and pour water into them before the plants were put in them. After putting the plant in the holes, she was in charge of covering the roots with soil. She loved getting her hands dirty and playing with the soil! Luckily the BioChar Soil Mix 2 is not sticky so it was very easy to clean her hands afterwards.
After the plants were established in their new place, we applied the AgroMarine Hydrolysed Fish Fertiliser for 100% organic plant nutrients. We added 10 ml of the fertiliser to a can of water and drenched the soil in the solution. Now we are watching the plants form more leaves and grow taller. Can't wait for the flowers and fruits to appear!
Keep an eye out on Gardening - Part 3: The Fruits of Labour.
Do check out our gardening video about Gardening With Kids - Part 2: Replanting The Tomato Plants!
