6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
What can I do to help these plants get strong enough to be planted outside?
Do some research on "hardening off plants". It is the slow, gradual process of adapting plants grown inside to growing outside without the shock yours experienced. There are many discussions here about how to do the process properly and tons of info available on the web.
Good luck with your plants.
Dave
Here you go. The previous discussion linked below should answer all your questions. ;)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Trimming Onions
I just did some repotting last week as well, for my tomatoes. I didn't have any seed starter mix, but I did have a high quality soil-less mix. It did seem a bit "heavy" so I mixed in some perlite, plus some organic tomato fertilizer. So far, so good. Also, I've been watering them with dilute Chamomile tea. That has always worked great for me in terms of preventing damping off and other fungal problems. (It also helps with germination, I've discovered). Regular black tea also works, but not green tea..
Part of the reason seedlings do not grow straight up has nothing to do with the light. Of course, it always helps if you keep the light very close to the top of the plant, and raise it slowly, so it grows upwards toward the light. However, what is missing is a source of wind that will "stress" the stems and make them grow stronger. This happens naturally as they grow outdoors. The stress of the wind actually changes the composition of the cells in the stem as they grow, producing a stronger, more fibrous result. For indoors, I use a fan to "stress" my seedlings so they grow with a stronger stem. Hope this helps! MacThayer
Given the rapidity with which they self-seed all over my garden, I am guessing that they are not too fussy about germination conditions! However, Tom Clothier and Thompson & Morgan both say that Myosotis sylvatica needs light for germination.
yes its time to get them out of those punnets and into plastic cups or something similar in size. they need some room to grow on and also need a feed once the true leaves start to develop. keeping them in those greenhouses is likely to be what's holding them back.
You are apparently planting one of the new seedless hybrids like Ruby Hybrid Seedless, correct? If so, they are not self-pollinating like most melons as they produce only female blooms.
So you need to a)germinate (and plant with them) the enclosed pollinator variety in order to get melons on the hybrid or b) when you plant the germinated hybrids also plant at least 2 of the pollinator seeds in the same hill. They will sprout there to act as the pollinator.
It is quicker and surer production if you pre-germinate the pollinator variety too. But it works either way. Just be sure to mark which is which.
Hope this helps.
Dave
Yes, plants still have to be hardened off - whatever your greenhouse is made of it still filters the light spectrum, stabilizes temps somewhat, and blocks wind. Inside isn't the same as outside. ;) Doesn't take as long but still required.
Dave
IIRC, sevin is a very bad-bad thing for honeybees and can kill entire colonies if it makes its way back to a hive. Newer labeling indicates its "adverse effects on local honeybee colonies" but they play down it's devastating effects.
:just my 2-bits:
I usually wait until the seedlings are 3"+ or higher - or until they have their second or third set of "true leaves" - before thinning them. Then, I simply pinch out the ones that have the weakest stems and/or the least amount of growth...
Hope that helps...
Hi Bob-let me start off by saying that I start thousands of seeds each year successfully. Those Chinese lanterns are the worst for starting inside, as they always get leggy no matter what and fall over. It's the nature of their non-ability to adapt to inside starting, and not necessarily dampoff. You can grow them under the best conditions inside and they still just falter the majority of the time. I think they are best direct sown outside. Are you keeping your lights for the other flowers close to the seedlings? With Chinese lanterns out of the equation, are you having problems with other flower seedlings? Sunflowers normally get taller stems and can become weak to not hold up the seedlings if the light is too far way from the top leaves. Are the sunflowers falling over and dying, or are they falling over with leggy stems and still growing?
Thanks for the info but Leggy I understand and yes they have been some what leggy, I have the lights about 5-7 inches off the trays. But its more like if you see a dried out plant. But I keep watering them and again others keep moving on. Can it be the peat pots sucking the water and bottom watering is no good?
Herp - There are good books and terrible books just as with anything. But I fear this book has either seriously misled you or it is open to other interpretations. Surely the author of a gardening book would know how seeds germinate and the hazards of exposing young seedlings to bacteria and excess nitrogen. You said "seed starting mix" in your original post. Did they intend you to use peat pellets for germination instead? Perhaps they meant for it to be added to the growing mix, not the germination mix?
Seedlings don't need and can't even absorb/use calcium until after they develop the second set of trues leaves. Normally at that time they have to be transplanted anyway into larger containers with a good balanced soil-less growing mix - most of which have added nutrients in the form that the plants can use.
And the sugars in the Jello provide a happy breeding ground for all sorts of potentially harmful bacteria and mold. They love it! But it doesn't help the plant.
Since you used the peat pellets, which are prone to mold and mildew problems all on their own, your problem is compounded. Hopefully you aren't keeping them really wet - just barely moist only and let them dry out between waterings. Roots need air as much as they need water and wet soil doesn't allow them that oxygen.
So try this: separate the pellets that have germinated from the ones that have not. Return the ones that have not germinated to the heating pad/mat or whatever you are using but prop the cover over them 1/2 way open for more air and give them a bit more time to germinate. Remember that not all will so don't expect them to.
Meanwhile mix up a spray bottle of 1 part hydrogen peroxide (sold in drug stores) and 9 parts water and lightly mist, DON'T soak, the germinated pellets that have the fungus on them. Aim for the fungus, not the plant as much as possible. If the un-sprouted ones have fungus growing on them you can mist them too. Then add the fan to increase the air circulation and withhold water until the plants just being to get wilty before watering them again. Don't let them sit in water - pour it in the tray, let them absorb what they want, and then dump the rest.
As soon as possible, peel the netting off the pellets and get these transplanted into other containers like drink cups with drain holes cut in the bottom. Plant the pellets deeply into the cups filled with a good quality soil-less (no jello or milk) potting mix - cover the entire pellet with the fresh mix and they should then do fine. If you buy one with fertilizers already in it, fine. If not, feed them 1x with a 1/4 strength mix of a good liquid fertilizer.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Dave
I think it is safe to put them in almost any kind of pot you want. They seem to like warmth, so I would wait to plant them in the ground until May. So a nice big pot until them would be a good idea. I did them last year for the first time, I lost some before planting time, but many were fine, and they were amazing by August. They take a long time to flower. This year I think I started too many too soon, again, and lost a few, but several are doing well in sunny windows, and I have started others. Don't forget to save the seeds from their pods in the fall. I dried them inside and had many seeds I am using this year. Good Luck!
Audrey zone 7
Any possibility you could put them outdoors? I see you live in Nashville. I have my radishes in a greenhouse, as I'm in Wisconsin, but it should be much warmer down there, and radishes are a cool weather crop anyway. You'd just have to "harden them off" like you do anything else. And you'd have to protect them from any freezing weather, although there shouldn't be that much for you by now (Lucky you!) The only other thing you can do is pull them out and replant. By the way, how much nitrogen do you have in your mix? This can also cause a lot of top growth at the expense of the vegetable. Just a thought. MacThayer
lol @ the freezing weather comment. We went from having lows in the 50's for three weeks to having two days of 30(F) nights, now we've gone back to the spring weather.
Last year we had a month of very warm spring like weather and then a hard freeze for four nights that killed all a lot of vegetation that had grown (my six oaks lost all their budding leaves) and the followed by a drought that left us two feet below our annual rainfall. I've only been down here for two years from Detroit and the weather here is decidedly CRAZY.
Regarding the radishes, I figured the best thing would have been to leave them outside and let nature take over, either way I'm not losing anything by doing it. The nitrogen content may be an issue too because I used an old back of potting soil to grow them and there's a good chance it contained fertilizers as I can see the little green "bubbles" of it mixed it... d'oh.