Snaps, Ranunculus

First tiny snapdragon seedlings emerging, as well as a few ranunculus shoots. Planning to keep the ranuncs in trays for 4 weeks or so, which puts transplant date around March 15th.

I could transplant earlier and it would be less difficult untangling roots, but I noticed last year that the smaller plants, i.e. those transplanted at a younger stage, had more vole damage on the roots than the larger transplants.

My guess is that the plants use up the sugars and starches stored in the corms as they grow so that slightly older plants have less tasty roots. I'm also contemplating burying some hardware cloth or screen around the ranunculus bed for a few weeks until the plants are well established.