Unexplained growing mystery

9 years ago

I have two containers made of black metal I'm growing veggies/herbs in - they came with my new house. It's my first time planting in these. I used the same soil mixture, the same kinds of seeds & the same watering schedule I have in the past. All have been in CO. For some reason my basil will not grow in the center of the box while it flourishes along the sides. The same is true (although less dramatic) with the rows of veggies in the other container. I cannot figure out what could be causing this, especially since the temperature is consistently above 50 at night, so the temp of the sides of the boxes shouldn't have that much of an effect...help!

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Comments (3)

littlebug zone 5 Missouri
9 years ago
If the planter is black metal, and is setting in the sun, I think that's your answer. The metal is retaining more heat through the night and the nearest seeds are germinating and growing quicker because of it.
chelseamoll
Original Author
9 years ago
That's what I thought too, and it makes sense, I just don't understand why the plants in the center have stalled completely. Everything germinated 5 weeks ago. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
9 years ago
Very often we depot a plant only to find the roots are essentially all concentrated around the perimeter of the soil mass and the center of the soil mass is, practically speaking, a dead zone. This occurs often, when the only part of the pot that supplies an adequate amount of aeration is near the gap that forms between the soil mass and the pot wall. Consider that as a potential reason - especially if one pot wall faces south and plants along the side that faces north do equally well as those along the south side.

Al