Repotting the Coriander and Chives

The other day while at a large supermarket we decided to buy some pre-grown coriander (as the self planted is taking a bit to get going) and sage.

I was planning on leaving it in it's shop-container for a few more days until it had settled however yesterday morning when I came downstairs it was starting to look very unhappy and droopy.

The shop bought Chive plant in it's ridiculously tiny pot.

A really unhappy looking Coriander plant. When I saw the root ball of this I really understood why it was so unhappy and why repotting was the best idea

I have picked out these two pots to transfer the plants into. I picked them because they are large enough to allow the plant to spread it's roots and regain life, but not too large so they can't sit on the window sill next to the back kitchen door so access for use in cooking is still really easy.

It is important to fill the pot with compost fully when repotting plants, so the current root ball is well supported in the soil and the plant does not fall over.

This is the root system of the Chives. I didn't take a picture of the Coriander but it was worse. This plant cannot be expected to survive long with roots as constricted as this. Time for re-potting has definitely arrived.

I have created a hole deep enough to fully enclose the root block of the sage, and am carefully positioning it so I can press in the surrounding soil and ensure the plant stays upright.

The final result; a Chive plant with plenty of room to stretch it's roots out and grow.

Both the Chive and the Coriander in their new recepticles. I have covered them each with a cloche with half open vent to keep the snow and frost off the delicate plants over the next few days, while they recover from the stress of being moved.

In other news, I removed the hay from over the other seedlings and was a bit worried as they all looked slightly the worse for wear; the hay had become quite damp and sodden and was possibly not the best thing to put on top of tiny seedlings. The good news is, on checking them now they are all looking much happier and have even put on a little more height since being uncovered. One more experiment done, one more lesson learned.

Keep planting, keep reading :)