| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| snowberryfarm |
Posted - May 04 2009 : 11:32:58 PM
My DH has been starting all his seeds for the garden inside this year, he bought the container with the lid, and all the small holes for planting in, etc. and planted lots of veggies. Now, he is becoming very discouraged because many of them are not sprouting, and some of the ones that have, are dying. He is very discouraged, as he wanted to plant a big garden this year with all of these. For those of you with more experience, what might he be doing wrong? Any advice welcome! Thanks! |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| therusticcottage |
Posted - May 05 2009 : 08:53:42 AM
It sounds like damping off. It is a virus that seedlings get from too much water and not enough air flow. They look like they're doing just fine and then you get up one morning to find all the seedlings keeled over. I started seeds twice one year because of this.
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| Bellepepper |
Posted - May 05 2009 : 07:30:52 AM
I have been starting seeds for years and lost a bunch of my seedlings this year so I don't think expierence has a whole lot to do with it. At least for me anyway. I think my problem was too much water and the tomato plants rotted right at the surface of the soil. My pepper plants did well but my tomato plants was almost a total loss. I have 4 plants out in the garden that are'nt doing well at all. Of course the cold rainy weather isn't helping.
I bought some tomato plants at the greenhouse and potted them up in bigger pots and kept them in the potting shed/greenhouse. They were hugh and blooming then started looking cruley and funny at the top of the plant. I hauled one of them around asking people that should know, what was wrong with them. Never got an answer. So yesterday, went to the nursery and bought more plants and started over. These I placed right in the garden. Replaced the 2' tall plants with some that were about 6" tall. Going to be a late crop for sure. |
| DearMildred |
Posted - May 05 2009 : 07:18:19 AM
Michelle, argh! I feel your pain! I am on Round 2 of seed starting this year because I bombed the first time. Didn't have any luck with the tiny trays and I didn't have a good set-up.
This time I planted them in yogurt cups with drainage holes punched in the bottom (mostly tomatoes and peppers) and wrapped each cup individually with saran wrap. That way as they sprouted I could take their "covers" off. If you have a bunch of different plants in the same tray it's harder to be successful. You want to take the cover off and put them right under the light as soon as they sprout, and it's harder to pull that off with everything coming up at different times. So if you have sprouts still under the dome, they are more likely to damp off - but if you have seeds that haven't germinated yet and you take the cover off, they are less likely to germinate.
I'm really new at this too, that's just been my experience so far. Seedlings round #1 were not happy, germination rate was low, I had some damping off, and I was SO discouraged. Seedlings round #2, I soaked most of my seeds for two hours, used Sunshine LC1 potting soil on recommendation from The Tomato Man's Daughter here in Oklahoma (big grower of heirlooms) and did the yogurt cup saran wrap thing. Put them right underneath a florescent shop light, turned on a little fan, and they're happy as can be so far.
Good luck Michelle!
~~~Amanda in OK~~~
There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. ~Will Rogers |
| Ms.Lilly |
Posted - May 05 2009 : 06:50:23 AM
Try placing a heating pad on low under the tray for a few days. Especially tomatos and peppers need a warm soil temp to germinate.
Lillian |
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