[brownp]

I am a primary school teacher. Our class are making hanging baskets as part of an enterprise initiative.
We have lots of plants growing at various stages, such as marigolds, lobellia etc.
Our issue is storing them - they are currently in modules but we were thinking that they will need more compost if they are to develop properly. We were thinking of putting them in the school garden and then transplanting them into baskets towards the end of the summer. Is this going to be an issue?? If so, can anyone offer advice on what to do with the plants - the biggest issue is moving up to 500 plants inside and out every day at the start and end of the school day.
thanks for any help that you can give

[Debz]

What is stopping you putting them into the baskets just now and giving them a chance to come on in situ.  I would have thought you would want the baskets for the start of summer and not for the end of the summer when the plants will be getting past their best.

[brownp]

Thanks for your reply...the main reason we don't really want to put them in baskets -is that we are making 40+ baskets - so finding somewhere to hang them out of harm's way is difficult if not impossible.
We will be selling the baskets to parents etc as soon as they are in a good condition.

[mobilekat]

I would suggest getting parents to place a deposit towards their basket now, and then request they provide a bucket for the basket to sit on!

Once hardened off the marigolds etc dont need to come in at night, and I would think baskets sat on buckets are easier to store, and a good height for the kids to water!

I guess you are looking to send them to their permanent homes before the school holidays?

[brownp]

We're worried about vandalism/theft overnight and during holidays.
Can anyone think of a reason why using the school garden would be a bad idea?

[Yorkie]

If you plant them out into soil, the roots are likely to spread out, and be damaged when you dig the plants up after a few months.  The usual advice is to dig them with a decent size root ball, but this isn't really consistent with wanting to put them into hanging baskets.

[N.WalesIdealist]

Well, with 500+ plants to think about I can think of a massive reason why planting them in the garden is a bad idea...HARD WORK!

A good gardener is clever, so the prospect of planting 500+ plants into soil now and then digging them up in a few weeks times just seems silly.  If I were you, I'd get hold of some trays or large module trays (5x5cm modules) and transplant them into those, using 5 cm spacing for trays.  By placing the trays/modules into grow bag trays, you'll save time carrying the plants inside and out, and you'll make watering easier, which is great is you can't water over the weekend.

Another point to make is that if you do plant them straight into the school garden, you'll still have to have hardened them off before you plant them out.

Hope that helps, sorry if it's a little disjointed!