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kavadulce

Winter sowing success, but seedling disappointment...please help!

KavaDulce
11 years ago

Hi everyone! This past winter I wintersowed around 100 containers. It was a HUGE success with only around 10 containers failing. Only problem is, (except for the the bachelor buttons), everything stopped growing after reaching only a few inches. So strange considering everything looked green and healthy...just no growth. And I planted maybe 30 different varieties of flowers. I ended up transplanting the little seedlings even though they were smaller than I would have liked, hoping it would help. Well, it's been months, and they are still the same size. A few seedlings that I planted out in April have FINALLY taken off (bachelor buttons, nigella, cosmos, peony poppies), but they are floppy!!!! Either they started crawling along the ground after reaching around 6 inches tall, or as soon as their flowers developed. Now I KNOW from pictures that I've seen other gardens with these very same flowers growing upright, haha, and I can't imagine people stake them. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? I'll admit I'm very disappointed and frustrated and little by little digging up the little rascals to replace them with nursery plants. ANY advice is appreciated!!!

Comments (6)

  • northerner_on
    11 years ago

    I am so sorry you are having such a bad experience, but I wonder about a few things:
    Have you continued to water the seedlings?
    Did you give them a little fertilizer?

    Your seedlings will continue to be fairly small if they are left in the containers because there is very little room and nutrients. I usually plant out my seedlings when they are quite small (2 - 3 inches) and once they get settled in their permanent homes they usually take off. I wonder if you are perhaps having a very dry summer like us. The fact that annuals planted in April are flopping suggests that they either in the wrong environment (not enough sun) or that they are under-nourished/watered. I would advise you to continue to plant out everything that's growing and see if they take off. I am really quite perplexed by your problem. Hope someone else can offer some better suggestions.

  • kqcrna
    11 years ago

    I agree with northerner.

    How is your weather?

    Karen

  • beachgrub
    11 years ago

    I had similar problems myself and i swear just in the past 2 weeks my seedlings have trippled in size!! Finally! I had a few that were doing well from the get-go but the small ones that were height challenged finally woke up. I'm watering everything every other day for an hour and a half (i have all sand here) at a time.

  • KavaDulce
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ah, thank you everyone for your responses. Northerner, yes, it HAS been a very dry summer here, as well. I guess I didn't really think about it, since the perennials haven't seemed to mind much. I will start watering more frequently, add a little fertilizer, and hope this remedies the problem. Beachgrub, you have me optimistic! Fingers crossed! :)

  • terrene
    11 years ago

    If your seedlings are slow-growing perennials, they may not grow all that big the first year. Some perennials will bloom a little the first year, but the plants will still be small compared to their mature size. If they are annuals, then they should steadily grow larger through the season.

    Watering regularly and fertilizing a little, or at least having a rich well-amended soil, is very important for small seedlings. Also, slugs can be a menace to seedlings. You won't usually see them, because they do most of their eating at night. However, they will munch them down and wipe them out, or diminish their growth to the point where they will never grow well.

    Since your weather has been very dry, this is probably discouraging the slugs, but it would be critical that you water small seedlings daily under these conditions.

  • docmom_gw
    11 years ago

    I'm having similar slow growth. I've been doing this for years, and things do start out slow--often because the roots are developing, so we don't see much up top. But, this has been a dry year. Give them time--especially if they're perennials. Those might not show their stuff until next year. If you're desperate for some color, there are probably annuals on sale at the nurseries. Good luck.

    Martha

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