Gardening Expert Reveals Simple Trick to Transfer Seedlings to a Pot Without Damaging the Roots

Picture a miniature tomato plant. As it grows into an adult, the shallow container it grew up in ceases to be enough for it any longer. Unless it is transported to a larger container, its roots will struggle to expand in the dark soil underneath, eventually leading to the plant’s contraction and death, even if the soil is moist. Like a cow’s cub or a human baby, a plant too needs a container larger than itself to hold and sustain it. For many plant-keepers, transferring a seedling to a larger container becomes challenging, as the roots can easily tear or break. In a resurfaced tweet, Rob Smith, a vegetable gardener from Sheffield, UK, who goes by @robsallotment on X, shared a brilliant hack that ensures that the plant doesn’t get damaged during the entire transplanting process.

Smith is passionate about growing his own fruits and vegetables in his “Kitchen Garden.” A connoisseur of the “Grow to Eat” movement, he frequently shares tips for everything from planting fresh strawberries to harvesting cherry tomatoes and taking care of new lavender aubergines. In this tweet, he revealed an extremely easy trick to “potting up” the seedlings without ripping apart their roots. It's a nightmare for many plant owners to uproot the tiny seedlings as the roots often refuse to budge, holding on tightly to the soil. With even a little force, there's a risk of tearing the seedlings from their roots. So, Smith says that the key is simply “dropping them.” 

“Did you know it’s easier to pot your seedling on by dropping them,” Smith wrote in the tweet caption. He explained that just dropping the seedling onto the ground “forces the soil to split and separate at the weak points, allowing seedlings to be picked out with all their roots rather than cutting, digging or pulling them apart.” Below the caption, he illustrated the hack with a short clip showing how he just dropped the seedlings planted in the soil cake onto the ground. The cake split open and the saplings scattered in the layer of soil with their roots undamaged.

Smith's tip is useful for varied plant babies, from vegetables like orange carrots to evergreen foliage shrubs like inkberries, flowering plants, and seasonal blooms. Virginia Tech also shared the same method. Dropping seedlings allows them to be picked out with their roots intact as the soil splits and separates at all the weak points. Gardening experts from Fast Growing Trees, a plant nursery, recommended using a knife or spoon to gently remove the seedling from the soil cake. Once uprooted, the seedlings must be laid down so that the clumps of soil can fall apart. Also, one should always pick the seedlings up by their leaves and not the stems or roots, to avoid damage.

Meanwhile, commenting on Smith's tweet, another gardener, @commoninsense exclaimed, “Unexpected, but makes sense!” @jane760464 called the hack “brilliant.” @katoa_design reposted Smith's video on their Instagram page. Others pointed out that the seedlings first need to be pricked out properly so the dropping can happen smoothly. @sarahbeaucham suggested that they needn’t be watered just before they’re separated from the plant pot, “Great so long as you haven’t just watered them but I suppose you wouldn’t be pricking them out after watering.”