Help, I have just made a little greenhouse with plexi-glass and now all the seedlings are sprouting but they seem unhappy. The lighting emits UVA and UVB rays, however, i must be doing something incorrect. because some of the sprouts seem like they are dying. All seedlings are from the fruit that i ate, either apple, grapefruit, orange, lemon, papaya, or grape.
Hiya Your plants seem a bit "unfocused". It doesn't seem to me they need water, rather they are like you say unhappy; I would try to move them to another location with aproximately the same light. Try different places where you see them growing more upright in a matter of a couple of days. Also, very important, they may need fertilizer. Try something smooth but revitilizing, not too strong as the plants are really young and may die if you apply too much fertilizer. In any case, hope this helps. Good luck and keep us informed! Have a great day Cris --- Cristina Diaz is an author and founder of the Beautiful Gardens Email Club. Get your free garden reports at http://www.soapystuff.com/free-garden-reports.html
Charm--what is the light source, and how close is it to the plants? Also be careful to let the soil dry a bit between waterings to avoid "damping off" fungal disease from too wet a mix early in the plant's life. A bit of air circulation helps with preventing this as well...some of us run a fan in our greenhouse thru the winter. Glen
Glen and Christina, Thank you for the response. I will try both. I just opened up the greenhouse to air out and I have moved the plant to a different place. I think that this will help. I have already moved two of them out and they are happy. Again thanks for now peace charm
Damping off is a major cause of attrition of new seedlings in a damp warm environment. "Damping off" is caused by water borne fungi of the Pythium species. It's the same fungi that also causes root rot. The meniscus (or circular rim) that forms a collar of water at the junction between the wet growing media and the base of the stem of the seedling is a vulnerable position for a young seedling. Cleanliness is one way to combat the problem - use sterilised soilless mixes, sterilised pots, etc. Keeping water away from the base of the seedling is another step - water "from below" by sitting the pot in another container and allowing the media to soak up moisture from the bottom up. I mulch the surface of the media with a thin layer of sterilised coarse sand (you can buy this, usually labelled as "play sand" from the cement and concrete mix section of any home improvement stores). Whereas I initially cover the germinating set up with a plastic dome to maintain high humidity, I remove this as soon as the majority of the seeds have germinated. These simple measures have helped me to reduce my seedling losses considerably, and I have never had to consider using a fungicide. The other problem with your plants, I agree, is lack of light. These give rise to lanky weak seedlings which are even more susceptible to rot. If your lighting set up is not fixed, you could adjust this so that the seedlings are as close to the light source as possible without overheating them. Alternately, find some way of placing the seedlings as near to the light source as possible (assuming that the light source is articial, of course).
Charm Glad to hear your plants are doing better. At the mo what I am trying to do is getting rid of some yellow spots on my geraniums, which have extended even though I've treated them. Have a great weekend! Cris --- Cristina Diaz is an author and founder of the Beautiful Gardens Email Club. Get your free garden reports at http://www.soapystuff.com/free-garden-reports.html
