wilting seeds

[snohare]

Nope sorry Bagnally, no link visible. Can I just have fun imagining them instead ?

[susiewoosie]

Nope sorry Bagnally, no link visible. Can I just have fun imagining them instead ?

Hi snohare click on Bagnallys name. Then click view public profile. The album is in that page

[susiewoosie]

I'm just bumping this back to the top so someone can look at bagnallys pictures

[teakdesk]

Bagnally

Some of the seedlings look very leggy - ie too much heat and not enough light immediately after germination. They need to come out of a warm propagator after germination into a cooler atmosphere in bright, but not direct, sunlight. This will allow the roots to grow without much top growth initially to produce a healthy plant.

Some look like they could have damped off - leggy seedlings are more prone to this.

You also look to have some scorched seedlings from being directly in the strong sun we have had recently. Have they been behind a window with the sun shining through.

Some may survive... so don't trash them yet!!


EDIT: some of your problems may be from water droplets splashed onto the leaves when watering.

[Bagnally]

Thanks for this info. Yes some of the seedlings were put into one of those plastic green house things you can get. We went away for a few days and when we came back they did look a bit sorry for themselves. Tried to save them, left them for a while but eventually they just gave up living. :-( We've since seeded up some more of the same type They seem to be doing OK. I will say though that some of our first seedlings still haven't got there second leaves on yet and they been in the trays since around Easter. They're still alive but growing so slowly it's almost like they don't want to get any bigger.

By the way thanks Sussiewoosie for showing others how to get to my images. :-)

[Bagnally]

PS Eyren, thanks for the advice about the rotten fruit in a jar for the flies, unfortunately it didn't seem to attract the little monkies. Was I doing something wrong? (tried to put a smiley here but can't find how to do them)

[snohare]

some of our first seedlings still haven't got there second leaves on yet and they been in the trays since around Easter. They're still alive but growing so slowly it's almost like they don't want to get any bigger.

Plants that have been too cold at the seedling stage will often never make up for lost time, they basically have a screwed up protein "clock" which means that various processes triggered by a ratio of one protein to another never get going. I wonder if perhaps your seedlings were warm footed and cold headed ? I would have thought that being in warm soil was sufficient protection against that - plants growing in areas with subterranean fires do well despite frosts - but it may depend on species.
The other alternative I can think of Bagnally, is the compost you are using. Too high a peat content might be the problem - many cheap small propagator kits add a lot of peat to their mix, which is great for germination, dire for keeping seedlings alive ! (Dries out too quickly, has few nutrients.) Getting the right potting compost is really very important at this stage, well worth going to the bother of sterilising loam and making up a mix, or buying a more expensive brand.
(Personally, I use molehills, with a mix of sand or moss etc to add drainage or humus depending on what sort of soil they come from.)

[Bagnally]

OOO, thanks Snohare. I did wonder if it had anything to do with the compost we used. I have been keeping a record of our efforts and what compost we have been using. We seeded these particular seedlings up in John Innes peat based compost for seedlings; which we had left over from last year; and in a basic plastic propagator black plastic tray, unheated in the kitchen. They were covered. Others that we have done have been in heated propagators and with Miracle Grow Organic multi purpose peat free compost, these have done much better. In fact the cucumbers that we seeded up a second time round have grown quicker and stronger in this than the JI stuff.

Saying that though, my husband checked the tomatoes in our variable heated propagtor this morning. They haven't grown much but and one or two were covered in a fur like substance. Any ideas? We've left the lid off and switched the propagator off.

By the way do you mean actual molehills as in the animal moles?

[snohare]

do you mean actual molehills as in the animal moles

Yes, genuine trouser makers ! Why do all that work seiving soil when they will do it for you...? And wherever they pop up with a lot of molehills, you know that is where the earthworms are - fertile soil, lots of the right bacteria churning out soluble nutrients...
Miracle Gro deserves its name, it really does make plants grow wonderfully well. I personally don't use it for food plants because it is about as full of chemicals as you can get; I have heard that the secret is the fungicides in it which do such a good job of protecting the plants that they don't have to devote any energy to fighting off diseases, but I have been known to use it or its competitor for houseplants where I am not worried about long term soil culture.
Old John Innes (or any other compost with added nutrients) you will often find has lost its nutrients after a year, particularly if stored in moist conditions. I think they just become chemically "fixed" and less available to plants' roots. Oh, and I forgot to say - John Innes is the name of trademarked recipes for different compost mixes, invented way back at an agricultural research station - #1 for germinating, #2 for potting on, #3 for larger plants - so don't assume all "John Innes #2 Compost" is the same, look for a reputable manufacturer's name.
I'm sorry to tell you, but furry plants are usually doomed. This is mould reproducing on the leaves. If there is not too large a percentage of the leaves affected, removing it - or the damaged leaves if they are looking severely damaged - may work, but very often you will find that the fungus is now inside the plant having entered through the leaf pores and will rampage away. Botrytis is the most well known grey furry mould, but there are heaps of them. The cause is too high a humidity at the particular temperature that the offending mould spores become active at - to quote the musical, some like it cold, some like it hot ! (Just a few degrees above zero, or a warm summer's evening.) It takes very little time. This is why good propagators have vents - condensation is often fatal to young seedlings.
Egad, it's a wonder we ever have anything to eat !

[Bagnally]

Thanks Snohare. We've got loads of molehills on our allotment so will have an abundance of rich soil. I'm sad about the Miricle Grow compost as it says it is Organic but you say they put chemicals in it. Surely if it's orgnanic it shouldn't have any chemicals in it? We try extremely hard not use anything that isin't environmentally friendly which is why we have gone for the peat free organic compost. If they have chemicals in it then we won't be buying it any more.

[snohare]

Ah, I do believe I have misled you here. My apologies, I didn't read your post properly, I only picked up on the peat free.
Miracle Gro (with no "w") plant food was originally a product that was simply an all in one super fertiliser for plants, particularly flowers. If you are getting Miracle Gro organic compost then the company that had the trademark has presumably gone green with some of its products - or maybe a competitor has added a "w" to help marketing a much saner, healthier product !
I envy you your local molehills, I have to make a 120 mile roundtrip by bus and carry a bagful home in my rucsac to get them here. Not having a car or spare time to hunt them down, I am reduced to stealing from a wood near my parents' when I go to visit. The bus driver can't understand why I am always asleep on his bus, I must get him to lift that rucsac sometime !

[Bagnally]

aahahah, well that's dedication for you! I'll see if I can stick some in the post to you. :-). Miracle Gro hasn't gone that green that they felt the need to stick a 'W' on there products, it's just my lack of observation.