The Fastest Way to Plant Large Transplants on Your Market Garden
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Show Transcript
0:00Hi guys, Jonathan here with Farmers Friend and I'm at Battlefield Blessings Farm with my dad John. We're going to be showing you guys some tips and tricks,
0:07methods they use for planting plants that are in pots or larger transplants or or or larger soil blocks like 4-in
0:16blocks. So, uh what what types of plants what types of times of year are you doing bigger blocks like this? I mean,
0:25it's pretty much all in the springtime.
0:27You know, it's a way to get a a jump on the season. Yeah. Keep it in the greenhouse longer. Yeah. Exactly. So, we use we do tomatoes, peppers,
0:37eggplant, and cucumbers. I I think those are the only things we do. And And again, that's it's only at the first of
0:45the season, but you know, we that's when we're planting all our our green houses with with peppers and tomatoes. So, we
0:52do hundreds of them. Yeah. So digging a hole for this is a little bit different.
0:57You know, you can't just use dibbler or maybe a little hand tri. We got to dig a bigger hole. So let's go over the different methods and and how you guys
1:05do this. Well, for for the whole history of our farm, we got the idea of the post
1:12hole digger from Elliot Coleman. You know, it makes a nice nice uniform hole,
1:19but you know, it's definitely it takes some work here. You want to Do you remember doing this? Yeah. You need to
1:27tighten up your handles a little bit, it looks like. Yeah. Well, the point is we don't use this anymore. Yeah. because we
1:35this year we came up with what I think is a better way and that is um
1:43using an augur with with a drill and of course you can buy all
1:51kinds of cheap ones on Amazon and I'm not saying they won't work um you know obviously it depends a lot on your soil
2:00type and everything. We got this one for planting a bunch of bulbs this spring. But I went ahead and I did some research and I went with Power Planter,
2:11which is a US familyrun company. I think they're out of Iowa or somewhere in the Midwest.
2:21Uh and and they have a a home gardener line and then they have a commercial line. Okay. And so I paid the extra
2:30money. You know, this is definitely pretty heavy duty. You have It looks like either you can get different sizes
2:38to go on this same shank or are these just like uh shear pins for I think it's it's different adapters. Oh, okay. You know, they they sell a a special drill,
2:51you know, more of an augur kind of drill. Yeah. But this is I'm pretty sure that's the 3-in and this is the 5 in.
2:58Okay. And you know, you just I will say normally we're doing this in the greenhouse and and the the soil in the
3:08greenhouse is much nicer than this, but you really you really need a second
3:15handle on your drill because this thing will will produce a lot of torque and can really and you're doing having your
3:24drill set at the lowest, right? You want it on on one. And you also want the soil
3:31very moist like with the dibbler. Uh, in fact, this is probably not quite moist enough,
3:41but you know, you can augur it out if you want a little bigger hole. See here,
3:46the dirt's falling back in. If it was a little more moist, it wouldn't do that so much. But it definitely
3:57is is an improvement here. You want to try? Hang on tight. Take you for a ride. It really
4:05pulls itself in, too. But yeah, I can see the holes just kind of falling back.
4:10But it's definitely easier than digging the holes with a post pounder. Yeah.
4:16Post digger. It's faster and easier. And you know, even if the the dirt does fall in a little bit, it's just a matter of,
4:26you know, putting it in there and you're good to go. Great. So, that's a a great
4:33timesaving tip. Power Planter is the company. So, go buy a augur from Power
4:40Planter and a good cordless drill with a uh large probably a high amp hour.
4:46You're not going to do this with a small little battery and you have a much easier way of planting your large plant transplants to get that jump on early
4:53spring stuff. Well, thanks for the tips on how to plant larger transplants to get that jump on early spring crops. And
5:01I hope you guys are enjoying these videos. Make sure you're subscribed to our different channels on social and and our email. And if you have any
5:09questions, reach out to us at farmersfriend.com.
For planting large transplants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers in 4-inch blocks or pots, a drill-powered auger is significantly faster and easier than a post hole digger. Use a quality auger (Power Planter's commercial line is excellent), set your drill to the lowest speed setting, use a drill with a side handle for torque control, and make sure the soil is very moist so the hole walls hold their shape.
Every spring at Bountiful Blessings Farm, hundreds of large transplants go into the greenhouse beds — tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers, all in 4-inch soil blocks or pots. These plants need bigger holes than a dibbler or hand trowel can make, and for the entire history of the farm, my dad dug them with a post hole digger.
That changed this year.
The Old Method: Post Hole Digger
The idea came from Eliot Coleman, and it works. A post hole digger makes a nice, uniform hole at the right depth for a large transplant. But it's physical work — hundreds of holes means hundreds of plunges — and it's slow. For decades, that was just the cost of getting spring crops in the ground.
The Upgrade: Drill-Powered Auger
This year, my dad switched to a drill-powered auger and considers it a clear improvement. Faster, easier on the body, and good enough hole quality for transplanting.
What to Buy
After researching options, my dad went with Power Planter — a family-run US company (based in the Midwest) that makes both home gardener and commercial-grade augers. He paid extra for the commercial line, and the difference in build quality is worth it for the volume of holes a market farm requires.
They offer different diameter bits — a 3-inch and a 5-inch are the two most useful sizes for transplanting. The bits attach to interchangeable shanks, so you can switch sizes without buying a whole new tool.
You can find cheaper augers on Amazon, and they might work fine depending on your soil type. But for heavy daily use on a commercial farm, the commercial-grade build from Power Planter has held up.
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Technique Tips
Use a drill with a side handle. The auger produces serious torque, especially in heavier soil. Without a side handle, the drill can wrench out of your grip. This isn't optional safety advice — it's a practical requirement.
Set the drill to its lowest speed. You want slow, controlled power, not high RPMs. Speed setting one gives you the torque to bore through soil without the auger grabbing and spinning out of control.
The soil must be very moist. This is the same principle as with the Quick Plant Dibble — moist soil holds the shape of the hole. In dry soil, the walls collapse and fill back in as fast as you drill. If the soil isn't moist enough, water your beds before you start.
Even with slightly dry soil where some backfill occurs, it's still faster than the post hole digger. You just push the transplant in, pack the loose soil around it, and move on. But moist soil gives you cleaner, faster results.
When Do You Use This?
Primarily in spring, for crops that need a head start on the season. At Bountiful Blessings Farm, that means the first greenhouse plantings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers — crops that were started weeks earlier in the propagation house and are now in large 4-inch blocks ready to go into their permanent beds.
Later in the season, when you're planting smaller transplants into prepared beds, the Quick Plant Dibble or even two fingers handle the job. The auger is specifically for the large spring transplants that need a bigger hole than standard tools provide.
The Takeaway
If you're planting hundreds of large transplants each spring, a drill-powered auger is a straightforward upgrade over the post hole digger. Power Planter's commercial line is built for the job. Pair it with a high-amp-hour cordless drill (small batteries won't cut it), use the side handle, keep the speed low, and make sure your soil is wet.
It's one of those simple tool swaps that saves real time on a task you're doing every single spring.
Frequently Asked Questions
A drill-powered auger is significantly faster and easier than a post hole digger for planting large transplants (4-inch blocks or pots). Power Planter's commercial-grade augers are built for farm-scale volume. Set your drill to the lowest speed, use a side handle, and work in moist soil for best results.
A 3-inch bit works for most standard large transplants. A 5-inch bit handles the biggest pots and blocks. Power Planter sells interchangeable bits on the same shank, so you can switch sizes as needed.
Moist soil holds the shape of the drilled hole. In dry soil, the walls collapse and fill back in, requiring you to re-clear the hole before planting. Water your beds before you start augering for cleaner, faster holes.
Possibly — it depends on your soil type and how much volume you're doing. For occasional garden use, an inexpensive auger may be fine. For commercial-scale planting of hundreds of transplants, the commercial-grade Power Planter build holds up significantly better.
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