6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

You might still be OK, assuming you weren't planning a certified organic garden. I say MIGHT, because to answer your question with certainty, we would need to know what product he used, what the active herbicide in it was.

Weed and Feed products are generally post emergent (they don't prevent germination of weed seeds, they kill actively growing weeds), are often but not always 'non' or 'low' residual - that's why they are applied directly to weeds already present (contact).

"Although nonresidual, some herbicides may remain active in the soil for a few weeks ("carryover"). This time period will vary with the herbicide. The information should be found on the label."

Thanks for your responses! It was Scott's Turf Builder & +2 Weed Killer. I think I'm going to just try it- I called Scott's and they said the weed killer doesn't have a pre-emergent in it, so the seeds shouldn't be harmed. We'll see! The seeds I'm throwing in there are just for fall decoration items, so while I would have preferred not to have any additional chemicals in there, all the corn stalks and pumpkins are just going to end up decorating the front lawn come fall so it shouldn't really matter.

Lightly dampening the soil a couple of times a day never got the water through the "somewhat hard crust" you noticed, so the seeds are just sitting there waiting for water. Instead, you should water thoroughly and deeply (like a good soaking rainstorm) a couple of times a week to soak the soil to a good depth. Overwatering is more of an indoor problem where the soil volume is limited. Outdoors, you can't really overwater unless you leave standing water.

Also, your partially finished and unscreened compost is actually quite a different medium from what Coleman used. There may be clumps of soil with large air spaces where the seeds' roots can't touch soil and can't get water. I'm not faulting you for this - I'm not always fussy enough to sift my compost (as compared to my father's beds of almost 100% carefully sifted compost that looked like chocolate cake...) but you have to be careful that big clumps are broken up and that the seed are pressed into the soil to get good germination.

Thanks Dicot and Annebert. You are right about the watering. Things are looking a little better already after the heavy rain on Monday. Oh well, I guess thats why they call it trial and error!

White stuff on the surface of the potting medium is not a sign of damping off at all, so lucky for you. I suspect that it's just a simple mold growing on a surface that might be kept too moist. Sometimes, hard water (as well as fertilizer) can add to the problem.

I'd guess that the yellow water is simply dissolved organic compounds from the potting mix. I wouldn't worry about it. Or, if you mean outside dirt when you use the word 'soil', then the yellow could be the clay and/or silt washing away.

Thanks for the information. I don't think its damping off either. The hollyhock & blue fescue is doing really well. I haven't fertlized any of them yet. Yes the yellow is the water that is running out the bottom. I have lost a few more seedling, but I think that is because I left them outside to bake in the sun. It's a learning experince for me. I will try again next year. I have big plans for next year..lol

I have found it easier to use the smaller 12 cell jiffy trays for my peat pellets. It gives me more flexibility to adjust smaller batches than the large 72 cell trays. As for lighting I use a timer with a powerstrip that feeds a whole bunch of "100 watt equivalent" CFL bulbs. Using clamp lamps and these bulbs I have a tone of leeway in adjusting the small trays to recieve the appropriate light. The small trays also allow you to keep the pellets bottom watered easier than the large trays.

I started these mid to late March in portable green house. Bottom fed in plastic trays, not overwatered or fertilized, followed hardening off steps, moved them in and out of cellar each evening. They were really thriving with good leaf growth almost 2" high. With little sun exposure from these past few days I noticed them to start to wilt so I transplanted them (root expansion) in a larger container and used a little MG Quick start (Transplant mixture) Today I noticed them even wilted more. It seems that I have a few tomatoe plants starting to wilt also. All help and advice greatly appreciated.
Thank You.