Strawberry seedlings

[Jason Cartwright]

Hi,

A bit back, in a thread 'Strawberries from seeds' http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...eed_78321.html i asked about repotting my strawberry seedlings when they looked like this.



I was told to leave them as they still have enough room to grow and other stuff.
Trouble is that was back in April it is now June and they haven't really grown much and some of the leaves have turned red



What should i do?
They are still in the little propagator.

Thanks

[gardening_gal]

They look quite wet and also seem to be sitting in water? I'm no expert but perhaps the roots are just being flooded too much?

If the roots can't get a chance to grow strongly then the actual plant wont either.

Like I said I'm no expert so could be off on this, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along soon to advise.

[veggiechicken]

They do look wet and they don't need to be in a propagator. Take the lid off, put them somewhere warm and sunny and let them dry off a bit.

[WendyC]

I would agree to overwatering. I think I would go further and carefully remove all the seedlings from that compost and pot them on in some fresh compost, perhaps with spme grit or perlite mixed in to help drainage. Give them a water and let it drain away, only water again when the compost feel dry several centimetres down. You may save them.

[Richard Eldritch]

Too wet and too hot. I grow strawbs from seed and they do take a couple of years to get going. I just sprinkle into modules and leave them untill the roots show through, then pot on. It isn't a quick process, but you do get some weird plants sometimes. I have a honeyo that has just sent out massive nobbly flowers! They are two years old and only just ready for fruiting.

[Alison]

Too wet and too hot. I grow strawbs from seed and they do take a couple of years to get going. I just sprinkle into modules and leave them untill the roots show through, then pot on. It isn't a quick process, but you do get some weird plants sometimes. I have a honeyo that has just sent out massive nobbly flowers! They are two years old and only just ready for fruiting.

Never grown full sized strawberries from seed but interestingly enough the alpine type although slow to start with put on a real spurt and fruit well in their first year. I have a big trough along the back of the conservatory and can't tell which are from this years sowing and which from last as they are equally sized etc.


Sent from my iPad using Grow Your Own Forum

[Jason Cartwright]

The over watering will probably be from all the rain we've had.
I took the lid of propagator ages but there are no holes in bottom of it so they have sat in water.
There is some new leaves on some so I'll repot and see what happens.

Thanks

[Richard Eldritch]

Never grown full sized strawberries from seed but interestingly enough the alpine type although slow to start with put on a real spurt and fruit well in their first year. I have a big trough along the back of the conservatory and can't tell which are from this years sowing and which from last as they are equally sized etc.


Sent from my iPad using Grow Your Own Forum

Yup, they're funny things, they sit there for ages and then go grow fast. I think what's going on is that the leaves and stems aren't the best sign of growth. It could be the roots. I've noticed that seemingly tiny plants above the ground, can have a big root system. When that root system reaches a certain size, the plant above explodes into growth.
Just a hunch!