seed stating woes, again

21 years ago

I am a good gardener who can't get seed starting right. I have been starting seeds for annuals. perenials and vegetables for over ten years and have spent time and money to do it. I had trouble this year with impatiens, vinca, and peppers among other things.

I believe that they all got over watered while I was away in march and never really recovered. They had all been stunted and pale. i have them in the ground now and they are greening well and growing now that the temp is in the seventies.

I have wire shelving with 2 racks with 3 4'flourescent shop lites in my base ment that is not heated but not cold. I am starting seeds on a 4' bed of pea gravel that has a heating cable under it. I works very well. I have chlorine filter on water for my home. I use a light mix of spagnum and pearlite and use bill's perfect fertilizer for a light feeding.

I use six packs and styrofoam seed starter kits that self water that I found out last year kept soil to wet.

I know that I have been over watering could my tempeture also be to cold. I do not leave seedlings on heating cable setup. any plants that I ever had problems with(stunted and pale) always recover within a week or two when I get them in the garden in late May or early June. This year it was real, chilly and damp so plants just didn't do any thing for a week or two.

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Comments (5)

nygardener
21 years ago
Well, stunted is better than leggy Â it does sound like it could be a little chilly down there. Could also be that you need a little more fertilizer. 14 to 18 hours a day is a good amount of time to run the lights; fresh air helps. If overwatering is a problem, you can use regular seed-starting cell packs and water the seedlings when the top Â¼" to Â½" of soil dries out.
VMWOOD
21 years ago
Overwatering is probably the problem. I have had the same problem in the past. I keep telling myself I have killed very few plants from lack of water and have killed many from overwatering. Think I have disciplined myself to the point now where I have little difficulity with overwatering but it took a long time.

Marv-Montezuma, IA

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maineman
21 years ago
Chefhick,

"They had all been stunted and pale... I use a light mix of spagnum and pearlite and use bill's perfect fertilizer for a light feeding."

If your growing medium is truly a "light" mix of sphagnum and Perlite, it should have good drainage and overwatering should be less likely. My suspicion is that Bill's Perfect Fertilizer is not perfect for starting seedlings, and that your seedlings are suffering from serious nutrient deficiencies.

MM
Jungle_Fever
21 years ago
Ps don't forget to set the ph correct for your specific plant ph needs.It's like having the door wide open when the ph is right on and closed shut when way off no matter what is in the soil or solution.Good luck and have fun.Ps It is a good idea to check ph once a week to verify that it hasn't changed to much.
nygardener
21 years ago
JF, what's the best way to check the soil pH?