Things are going wrong!

[Helgalush]

Lots of things are going wrong for my seedlings Where am I going wrong?

My carrots and beetroot seeds sowed about 3-4 weeks ago outside havent germinated at all. Probably for the best as I had sown them in large modules and I understand that carrots wont like being transplanted. If I try again, what can I do to aid germination?

My rocket is growing on my windowsill but several have just flopped over and withered and yellowed....why is this? I dont think I have been overwatering, they are in a spot that gets the afternoon sunshine...what am I doing wrong there?

And lastly, several of my seedlings (over half) have a green mossy mould on the surface of the soil, and two plants (tomato and cucumber) that I bought in B&Q last weekend and potted on have a white grainy mould on the top of the soil!!!

I feel like I am failing at it all!

Are there any tips you could share with me, or explain what I am doing wrong? The plants with green on the soil I am trying to leave outside in the fresh air in case humidity has caused it. Will the greeny mouldy stuff kill the plant, will it make it dangerous to eat?

[taff]

green mould is usuallya sign of overwatering. You want the soil damp, not soaking wet.
My carrots and beetroot sownoutside haven't germinated yet either, it may have been too cold when I sowed them, the weather might be nice in the day but the ground was still cold. Also, if they're outside, I doscovered last year the culprit was slugs or snails, they ate everything before it even got chance to do anything, so this year I've sown under a cloche.
It'scold on a windowsill too at night so they also might have been damaged by it. Sow more rocket, it's usually fairly hardy and mine's lasted till november outside before, but they were big bushy plants, not defenceless seedlings

[Helgalush]

Yes I think I probably did overwater them, am trying to make a real effort not to now...Is there anything I can do to remedy it, like try and scrape it off the top? Its worst on my herbs - will that affect being able to eat them? Am a bit paranoid about these things....!

Will sow some more rocket...

And will try again with the carrots and beetroot in to proper big pots (I am doing container gardening as I have no soil in my garden to grow veggies in and no space for raised beds).

Any ideas about the white grainy stuff on the repotted cucumber and tomato?

Thank you.

[Flummery]

Dont know what the grainy stuff is - sometimes you get this if you have hard water. I don't think rocket needs the warmth of a windowsill - it might have cooked in the sunshine. I would grow it outdoors.
Your green stuff is really just down to too much water.

We all do these things from time to time. Don't be deterred. You CAN grow veg!

[Helgalush]

Thank you Flummery. I had started to think that everything was going to fail and that maybe I should just stick to potatoes!! (Though even those dont seem to have chitted properly and am wondering if I have left it too late to plant them!).

I will sow some more rocket, have plenty of that anyway and will put it outside.

Right, lets think positive.... peppers, tumbling toms, aubergines and peas are doing well, leeks and spring onions no change....so will focus on the good things and try and learn from the mistakes....

[taff]

you're not the only one whose made those mistakes, I know I've made all of them too

[Helgalush]

Thank you!

[Incy]

I almost always get the white mouldy looking stuff on the top of the soil when I pot things up. No idea why but it never seems to harm the plant so I just ignore it these days.

[Bigmallly]

Like you, I tend to over water & get algae on the soil, just give it a scrape & ease off the watering............that's what I tell myself anyway.

[tamsin]

Don't worry about the mouldy stuff, some of mine have some very interesting mould things growing - doesn't do them any harm. I wouldn't bother trying the scrape it off.

I would sow the carrots and beetroot direct in their final pots - I use storage tubs. If you have space indoors you can leave the tubs inside to make them germinate quicker (don't need light til they germinate so anywhere you have space). Otherwise leave them outside. The carrots I sowed 3 weeks ago outside in a tub are up. I just covered them with a plastic bag to keep them a bit warmer and the moisture in.

[chukiducks]

you could soak betroot seed overnight ,this i have been told helps germination.

[Guttata]

That's what I used to do, one year I forgot to and it took nearly 5 weeks for them to pop up.

Helgalush just take a deep breath with growing things you will learn things can and do go wrong even in "expert" hands. It is something you have to accept. On the flip side things can go so right it is painful. I had 50 Rosemary cuttings to find homes for as they all took, a first for me as I usually have a 50% success rate with it. It got to the point I was nearly accosting people in the block with the plants.

[rustylady]

Carrots don't like being transplanted, so sow them direct into a deep pot. Beetroot do well for me sown in celltrays and then planted out. Keep going, but don't overwater.

[Paulottie]

And lastly, several of my seedlings (over half) have a green mossy mould on the surface of the soil, and two plants (tomato and cucumber) that I bought in B&Q last weekend and potted on have a white grainy mould on the top of the soil!!!

Are there any tips you could share with me, or explain what I am doing wrong? The plants with green on the soil I am trying to leave outside in the fresh air in case humidity has caused it. Will the greeny mouldy stuff kill the plant, will it make it dangerous to eat?

Mould normally caused by watering with rain water...use tap for young plants. The white grainy one is more common with modern peat free composts.

not a disaster... if you like just scrape it off put a little fresh dry compost on top and water more sparingly from the bottom.

[Helgalush]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I have some good news which is that I think I can see a tiny little beetroot shoot beginning to emerge after all...it is bright pink! How exciting! I have only the one out of a tray of beetroot and carrot but I am going to give up on the carrots and sow those direct in to a big pot..

Exciting about the beetroot.

I will follow the advice and try to scrape some mould off then top up with fresh compost. The B&Q ones say they were planted with peat-free compost, maybe I am just unlucky or maybe its because they were in those biodegradable fibre pots which in my limited experience seem prone to getting damp and mouldy.

Could it be my watering can? Could there be traces of mould in there? I noticed my spray bottle does so am going to Milton it, wondering if worth doing the watering cans too.