Caring For Your Seedlings

On arrival your seedlings may appear a little yellow in color.  This is normal as they have spent up to 5 days in a box without exposure to UV light.  If your seedling still has seed leaves on it these will also be yellow. Click here to learn more about Seed Leaves. You can also see pictures of seedlings and their seed leaves on the seedling product page.

If you are concerned, please email pictures of the seedlings to sales@livingtowers.com within 48 hours of delivery. Please see our terms and conditions and refund policy for more details. Plant the seedlings, following the directions below, while you wait for our reply.

Upon receipt of your seedlings, there are some important steps to follow. The seedlings need to be placed in sunlight or under grow lights on the day they are delivered.

  1. Open the box immediately and carefully remove the clear shipping trays.
  2. Count and throughly inspect seedlings for damage and notify us immediately if there are any problems. Please send pictures of the seedlings, your concerns and the order number to sales@livingtowers.com.  
  3. Your seedlings come with a plant marker showing the names so you can identify them. 1 per crop type is included.
  4. Remove each seedling from the tray carefully by grabbing the rockwool, not the plant. Please be especially careful with plants like squash, cucumber, beans and tomatoes that tend to have longer stems that may be intertwined with other seedlings. Be careful not to break them as you remove them.
  5. Water the seedlings thoroughly.  Dry rockwool has a tendency to repel water.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT STRAWBERRIES. Our strawberries have been transplanted to a rockwool cube and secured in place with a rubber band while rooting.  There is no need to remove the rubber band.  Simply place them in the Tower Garden following the directions below.

IF YOU ARE NOT TRANSPLANTING TO A TOWER GARDEN/GARDEN IMMEDIATTELYIf you are not able to transplant them to your Tower Garden/Garden on the day they arrive be sure they are getting plenty of sun (6+ hours) or they are placed under grow lights and watered daily.  There is no need to add Tower Tonic. Being placed near regular lights or near windows does not provide the light they need. They will become "leggy" and stretch in search of the light they need.

Is your Tower Garden/Garden located...

Outside with temperatures of 85° F or higher

  • If you received them in the late afternoon or evening, you may place them directly in the Tower Garden/Garden, planting them as outlined below.
  • If you received your seedlings in the morning, place them in a shallow tray with 1/2 inch of water and place them in a partial sunny location for the rest of the day. The extreme heat and nutrients can be a little overwhelming for a seedling that has spent a few days in a box! 
  • It is fine to leave them in a sunny location for a week or more providing you water them every day, possibly twice a day.
  • INSIDE, BEHIND A SUNNY WINDOW OR UNDER REGULAR LIGHTS IS NOT SUFFICIENT as many windows have UV filters on them that filter out the light the plants need and regular lights do not provide the UV plants need.

Outside with temperatures of 85° F or lower

You may place your seedlings directly in the Tower Garden/Garden on receipt. No special care is required.

Outside with overnight temperatures of 45° F or lower

Place the seedlings in a shallow tray, add 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of fresh water each day and put them outside each morning. Bring them inside each evening until the temperatures are over 45°. You may transplant them to a Tower Garden or other Vertical Garden when the overnight temps are between around 35-45° providing you are using a submersible heater set to around 68°.

Inside

Fill a bowl of water with a drop or two of insecticidal soap and half the recommended amount of neem oil (optional but recommended). If you do not have insecticidal soap, a drop or two of dish soap will work in a pinch.

Gently swish the seedlings upside down in bowl for a few seconds. Do not submerse the rockwool in the water.

Transplanting your seedlings

To a Tower Garden

  1. NEVER use softened water or City water that has not been filtered. You can use an inexpensive filter like this for chlorinated water. If your city uses Chloramine you will need a filter like this.
  2. If transplanting seedlings to an empty Tower Garden, use HALF STRENGTH MINERALS.  This is 10ml of each A and B for every gallon of water. In a Tower Garden FLEX this is 200ml of each A and B.  In a Tower Garden HOME this is 130ml of each. 
  3. It is important to plant your Tower like a pyramid. Large/vine plants at the bottom, going up to the smallest at the top. To help you decide where to plant your seedlings we have listed the seedlings we sell, in the order you would plant them below, from the top of the Tower Garden™ to the bottom. The configuration is decided based on the size the plant will grow to.
  • Swiss Chard
  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Chives
  • Viola
  • Strawberry
  • Lettuce
  • Herbs (except Basil and Chives)
  • Greens (except Swiss Chard)
  • Marigolds
  • Basil
  • Peppers
  • Beans
  • Eggplant
  • Nasturtiums
  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Patio/Micro Tomatoes
  • Melons/Cucumber
  • Summer Squash/Zucchini
  • Butternut/Spaghetti and other vining Squash
  • Tomatoes

Ensure the rockwool is touching the bottom of the netpot.  If it is not, the seedling will not get watered. As mentioned above, half strength nutrients is all that is needed for a new Tower of seedlings.  If adding to an existing Tower use regular strength. Balance the pH, set the timer. 

To a soil garden

Ensure the rockwool is completely covered with soil and thoroughly watered. Do not bury the seedling itself.

To another verticle garden

Our seedlings may be planted in any vertical garden that can use a 1.5 inch rockwool cube.

  1. NEVER use softened water or City water that has not been filtered. You can use an inexpensive filter like this for chlorinated water. If your city uses Chloramine you will need a filter like this.
  2. If transplanting seedlings to an empty Tower Garden, use HALF STRENGTH MINERALS.

It is important to plant your Vertical Garden like a pyramid. Large/vine plants at the bottom, going up to the smallest at the top. To help you decide where to plant your seedlings we have listed the seedlings we sell, in the order you would plant them below, from the top of the Tower Garden™ to the bottom. The configuration is decided based on the size the plant will grow to.

  • Swiss Chard
  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Chives
  • Viola
  • Strawberry
  • Lettuce
  • Herbs (except Basil and Chives)
  • Greens (except Swiss Chard)
  • Marigolds
  • Basil
  • Peppers
  • Beans
  • Eggplant
  • Nasturtiums
  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Patio/Micro Tomatoes
  • Melons/Cucumber
  • Summer Squash/Zucchini
  • Butternut/Spaghetti and other vining Squash
  • Tomatoes

Ensure the rockwool is touching the bottom of the netpot.  If it is not, the seedling will not get watered. As mentioned above, half strength nutrients is all that is needed for a new Tower of seedlings.  If adding to an existing Tower use regular strength. Balance the pH, set the timer.