Hey everyone, I'm still figuring out the whole gardening thing and could really use some advice. I started my zucchini, squash, cucumber, and okra indoors in red solo cups. They were looking a bit yellow, so I thought it was time to harden them off. I also added some diluted fertilizer. However, I found they were super rootbound and got a bit worried, so I transplanted them before finishing the full week of hardening off. Now it's been a week, and they're still quite yellow. Are they going to be okay? Should I just go ahead and replant them directly outdoors in case they don't make it?
2 Answers
Hardening off definitely helps, but your plants should be fine in the long run, especially the faster growers like zucchini and squash. They might look stunted for a bit, and the yellowing might not fully recover, but once new growth comes in, they should take off! I had a similar experience with my tomatoes last year—they did just fine despite a rough start. Good luck!
They should bounce back, it just takes some time. Once you see them starting to grow, give them a side dressing of a good granular fertilizer like Espoma Plant Tone or Garden Tone. And if you have extra seeds and the soil's warm enough, you might want to plant those too just in case!