Struggling Cavelo Nero Seedlings

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

I planted some Cavelo Nero seeds 3-4 and all germinated fine.

i pricked our the strongest and pitted them on individual 3cm pot, but they’re really struggling to kick on. I have maybe 5 left, the rest have died. Some of the remaining ones have wilted leaves and maybe one looks healthy.

any ideas what could be wrong?

II sowed some Swiss chard at the same time and have managed to move 18 plants out into the raised bed, where they are starting to kick on.

[peanut]

They might have been attacked by cabbage root fly. Scrape away some of the soil around the base of the plant or dig up and you might find little white maggots munching on the roots.

[ameno]

Either cabbage root fly, as suggested about (I had cabbage root fly attack my potted broccoli seedling year before last), or possibly fungus gnat larvae (these will be much smaller than cabbage root fly maggots, and translucent rather than white), or else there is something wrong with the compost.