Help MBE grow his dinner 2012

Lotus-eater

aliasojo wrote: »

What have I done? My poor marigolds are dying.

Seed sown in heated props then transferred to pots and put in front of the window in a bedroom.

The toms, cucs, peas, basil, parsley etc all seem to be doing fine, it's just the marigolds.

Any ideas? Too wet maybe? Draught/cold spot from window?

Have they gone straight over after repotting? If so they might pick up again.

It could be too much water, change of temp, damping off maybe.

Dry them out and there's not much else you can do.

aliasojo

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Have they gone straight over after repotting? If so they might pick up again.

Day after, roughly.

I've taken them off the wet capilliary mat and moved them a bit nearer to the radiator to try to dry off the compost a bit.

Think I better sow more just in case. Just a bit concerned the same thing happens again (especially if I'm doing/not doing something in particular iyswim.)

annie123

aliasojo wrote: »

What have I done? My poor marigolds are dying.

Any ideas? Too wet maybe? Draught/cold spot from window?

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Have they gone straight over after repotting? If so they might pick up again.

It could be too much water, change of temp, damping off maybe.

Dry them out and there's not much else you can do.

aliasojo wrote: »

Day after, roughly.

I've taken them off the wet capilliary mat and moved them a bit nearer to the radiator to try to dry off the compost a bit.

Think I better sow more just in case. Just a bit concerned the same thing happens again (especially if I'm doing/not doing something in particular iyswim.)

I agree with LE.
Also those pots look a bit large too for tiny plants, all that compost will hold a lot of water that they don't need yet.
You could get some vermiculite, Wilkinsons sell it for £3.50, a bag goes a looooooooooong way, it stores water and nutrients and aids drainage so helps with water logging. Or some pearlite, wilkinsons sell that too.

And I'm jealous of all the nice gardens on here, light floods in, nice and wide........*goes off sulking, wants bigger garden*

lilyjune

annie123 wrote: »

And I'm jealous of all the nice gardens on here, light floods in, nice and wide........*goes off sulking, wants bigger garden*

Somehow I have a feeling you are able to do such more than lots of people with big gardens Annie:)

Also, I didn't know you shouldn't put [STRIKE]pots in plants[/STRIKE], plants in pots that were too big..now I wonder if my seedlings will keel over and die too, they are in pots, not modules as I was trying to save money and the pots were already in the garden...

(walks off muttering that she really really must sort out her camera to take more photos and upload them here)

aliasojo

annie123 wrote: »

Also those pots look a bit large too for tiny plants, all that compost will hold a lot of water that they don't need yet.

I bought loads of them. They were only 20 for 99p. I though they were just the job for putting the seedlings in when they came out of the props.

Never even thought about the compost/water aspect.

Oh my. Yet again my poor plants are at the mercy of someone who means well but hasn't got a clue.

Btw, with regards to the vermiculite....am I supposed to add that to the compost?

Sambucus_Nigra

aliasojo wrote: »

What have I done? My poor marigolds are dying.

Seed sown in heated props then transferred to pots and put in front of the window in a bedroom.

The toms, cucs, peas, basil, parsley etc all seem to be doing fine, it's just the marigolds.

Any ideas? Too wet maybe? Draught/cold spot from window?

3 things here

a - sown in heated prop - not needed. Grow them hard and they respond better to bad treatment
b - pots far too big - you need those baby ones first
c - placed in front of a window straight after potting on - oops - they should go into shade first.

For plants like this, sow a handful in small pots and they really don't need potting on until at least the first 4 true leaves are showing. Gives the stem time to thicken up, the roots time to grow and you just get a better all round plant. Also, and LE will probably kick me here but I don't always water my transplants in - if I do I use a very light watering can just to settle the soil or I put them into a tray of water for a few minutes, let them soak up the water then take them out and let them drain.

And yes, you can mix vermiculite in but if you use the proper sized pots it is not necessary.

Lotus-eater

No I do that with seedlings too. Water from a tray, then remove and drain.

What I do with Marigolds, is sow in 24 way modules, then grow on in them until they are ready to go out. I never transplant and to be fair, those are a little small to be moved yet. I would wait a week or so longer at least........ Oh right, SN just said that

If you think about a seedling that small, the roots are really tiny and you've probably ripped most of them off when you transplanted it, so it won't get enough water.
But I also get this with tomatoes sometimes when they get watered too much.

aliasojo

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

3 things here

a - sown in heated prop - not needed. Grow them hard and they respond better to bad treatment
b - pots far too big - you need those baby ones first
c - placed in front of a window straight after potting on - oops - they should go into shade first.

I didn't do too much right then. :rotfl:

Thanks for the advice, will try again.

mrbadexample

I use pots that size for little tomato seedlings, and don't have any problems. They do look a bit wet though.

I have radishes sprouting:



And a freecycler kindly gave me these:



which will be perfect for in the greenhouse when I want to water a huge pile of seedlings.

mrbadexample

Only three of the 20 marigolds I've sown have germinated.