wilting seeds

[simong]

Hi all.
Hope someone can help.
Last year I built a green house out of re cycled wood,I used thick polythenefor the walls. I used it to grow tomatoes they grew very tall but when they came through very few turned red, and those that did suffered blossom end rot I think.
I also started seeds off, these grew for a short period then wilted, what am I doing wrong?.
Regards
Simong

[Two_Sheds]

Blossom End Rot is caused by calcium deficiency, which is caused by erratic or under-watering.

Wilting can be caused by over- or under-watering, or too much heat

[teakdesk]

If your plants grew very tall then they would have needed even more water than normal which would have helped cause blossom end rot.

Cut leaves and branches from your plants to minimise water loss through evapouration and do not forget to remove all the side shoots.

Cutting leaves will also cause the plant to concentrate on its tomatoes.

Also stop the plant by removing the growing tip when you have about 6 trusses of tomatoes (maybe stop after 4 or 5 trusses if the problem is bad).

Did you feed the plants with a liquid fertiliser?

[zazen999]

When they wilted, how tall were they? If they were still quite small with only their seed leaves, it could have been damping off.

[simong]

What is damping off?.

[zazen999]

Damping off - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[snohare]

If it is damping off Simong, one answer is to use chamomile tea - just a teabag steeped in a bucket of rainwater until it turns amber coloured - to water your seedlings with. Always try to water from below, warm the water in the sunshine beforehand if you can (gives the plants a boost), and use rainwater rather than tapwater - but cover the rainwater receptacle over so that it doesn't end up full of moulds, slime, algae etc.
It sounds like you weren't doing too badly really, it is just getting the details right that is a fiddle.

[Bagnally]

Hello I'm new to the forum and I have been looking for an answer to the very same question about my seedlings wilting. I have several cucumber seedlings that got quite tall in our heated propagator. My husband transplanted them because there was no room left for them to grow before they had acquired their 'true' leaves. He put them in pots and put them into a 'plastic' greenhouse outside. We have come back from two days away and most of them have wilted and shrivelled half way down the stem, no discolouring though. Is this still Damping Off disease? No signs of mould. My husband did put them on some newspaper in a tray and watered the newspaper before we went away. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks Bagnally :-)

[zazen999]

Bagnally....where are you?

if you are in the UK, it's far too cold for cucumber seedlings outdoors, so they have probably gotten too cold and died off.

My main cukes aren't being sown for another 3-4 week yet.

[Bagnally]

Hi Zazen999

I'm in the UK. My husband and I are new to this game. Thanks for your advice, this is probably what has happened then. We've brought them back inside now. Hopefully the ones that haven't wilted too much will survive. They are a bit brown on the edges of the leaves but hopefully they will still survive. All we can do now is hope that where we have them in our kitchen will be OK. By the way any idea what the little flies are that I keep seeing flitting around in the compost? I've seen them outside in the pot plants we have, in the summer. :-)

[zazen999]

Hi

Cornwall will be vastly different to Lothian for instance, if you pop your location into your profile, we can give more specific advice.

[Eyren]

By the way any idea what the little flies are that I keep seeing flitting around in the compost? I've seen them outside in the pot plants we have, in the summer. :-)

Fruit flies? We get them indoors in the summer and early autumn - I half-fill a jam-jar with ripe fruit and water and punch some holes in the lid as a trap. Outdoors, they're probably not a serious problem. Unless they are like tiny white moths? Those are white-flies, I think.

[Bagnally]

OK so these could be fruit flies then, thanks Eyren, I will try that. The ones we did get outside though, ate our marigolds and some other plants in some of our pots.

We've checked the rest of our seeds and they all seem to be having a few problems or have just died on us. No worries though, we won't be beaten. we've got an allotment so hopefully soon we can get something in the ground.

[susiewoosie]

I don't have a greenhouse so my plants are on the windowsil. They are getting very leggy and bending towards the light. I keep turning them around but I'm starting to get worried about them. They are lettuce and cabbage seedlings but they haven't got their real leaves yet? What should I do with them please?

[Bagnally]

I have some images of my seedlings in my album. If any of you can see my album; I've made it public; perhaps you could take a look at them and tell me what you think, especially the ones that look a bit worse for where. If you can't see the album please let me know as I may not have done it correctly so people can see them.

thanks B