Hallson Gardens

My seedlings germinated nicely and have all stayed alive, w/ the exception of one very light yellow one w/ a white center..RIP. LOL

I have removed the lids and up-cupped some of my seedlings but, in general, my seedlings are growing quite slowly, I think.

How moist should the soil/plants be at this point? They have around 3-6 leaves, depending on the plant, and are around 1"-1.5" tall. I'm not sure how often to fertilize and don't do it very often - perhaps this is an issue...?

thanks for any help,
Andrea

How old are they ?

Hi! Love your photos. I planted them on January 31st - some two weeks after.

Oops...actually they came UP January 31st...and some others 1 week after and others 2 weeks after. Looked at the wrong seed notes.

Your growth rate sounds to be about normal
Do you have any pics ?

ademink, I would love to see your baby pics, too. You may be dealing with a "the watched pot never boils" syndrome, just like I am. I spend many hours a week, just looking at my seedlings....I want to see every streak, bend, vein, curl....many of mine germinated around Feb 18 and they are still with just one leaf! Their "one" leaves are getting bigger each day, though!

Well, since I've never done this before...it probably IS normal! LOL Let me get out the camera and put on their makeup...pics coming up soon!

ademink -

Some of the folks on this forum... Leafy for example... can grow the hell out of seedlings. Others.. myself for example... they take for ever to get big.

your seedlings sound like they are doing just fine.

I'm going to be potting mine up this week. It seems like everytime one does that they put on a bito growth spurt.

How often should I be fertilizing? And how moist should the soil be/how often should I water?

The hard thing about this is there are so many ways to do it. I want to grow the hell out of them like Leafmould. LOL

They are so cute, I can't stand it. I got auction seeds from Chris for Crocodile Rock and a few of them have red petioles! Talk about screaming thru the house...my DH thought something bad had happened when I discovered those petioles!

That's the way I feel about streaks and spots and ruffles...I must confess, the red petioles don't do it for me....i may just not know enough about them to make them exciting. Just like I used to cut off the flowers....ohhhh, I have come a long way!

I think I was so excited to have something other than "just green", that's why I flipped out. hehe

ademink wrote: I want to grow the hell out of them like Leafmould.

I'm another Leafy-wanna-be and have a long way to go, but this is working pretty well for me...

I fertilize at a low dose with every watering. How often you need to water depends on a lot of factors, but the soil mix should never dry out with maybe the exception of the very surface. Hostas like lots of water! If you start to get slimy algae, though, its probably too much water.

Now we'll wait to see what The Master has to say

Ok, so I think I went from one extreme (when the lids were on the containers..slimy) to the other (now w/ the lid off...occasional cracks in the soil).

Moderation...what a concept. hehe

I don't know if this would help with algae-stuff, but I used a mister with about 1/2 strength Daconil fungicide and sprayed the tops of my seed flats. I had started to get mold. Also, in the instructions that came with some seeds I purchased on ebay, they said wait about 14 days after sowing seed before you put light on them. Keeps the fungi down and the seeds don't need light to germinate. I would like to hear what others say about this. The few seedlings I had that had already sprouted kinda got dimply when I sprayed, but I also had my lights too close, and I think what happened is they got sun burned, or lamp burned, I guess. They seem fine now. Maybe if the first, and occasional watering included fungicide....I would be curious to hear others...

I put perlite on all my seedlings, just enough to lightly cover the soil. It will get a litle green after the seedling have grown but not slimy. Hoping this helps with some of the funus gnats also.

When the seedlings are smaller, I like to set the pots into some water, that way they can soak up what they need. I have forgotten them in there over night a few times with no bad effects.

Also use fish fertilzer,approx. 1/2 teaspoon or so into about 2 gallons of water and let it set for at least a day. Use this every time when watering.

Hope these ideas help out, everybody has there own methods, over the years you just learn by the feel how much water they will need.

Good luck with your seedlings!

Thank you for the additional info - I really appreciate it! I will be up cupping a bunch today and will make sure to get pics of them!

Fungicide won't kill algae, but I do spritz my seedlings with a fungicide a couple time after they germinate to prevent damping off.

Mary Chastain has advised to put 2-3 drops of dishwashing liquid in a gallon of water to prevent algae growth on seedling soil. It works well for me.

My question is where do those wretched fungus gnats come from. It's soilless mix with Leafy's amendments. Then how do you get rid of them?

George

I sterilized my soil by baking and then boiled water...let it cool and used it to water. I never got them but I also never added amendments. I used a Pro-Mix brand mixture. I have heard horror stories of the gnats but don't have much advice other than to say what I did.

If you have your seedlings around other plants, you can get fungus gnats from them. Sometimes they aren't that noticeable until you have some soil you are really keeping damp. One thing I recently found on the internet says that Pyrethrum kills fungus gnats. I just discovered it, so I'll let you know if it works. Perhaps if I put a little in the water it may kill the adults and the larvae.????? I don't have them in my seedlings, but noticed some in the hostas I wintered over in the greenhouse. I drenched the soil with Permrethrin last week. Will probably need to do it 2 more times as there is nothing keeping the water in the pots like the seedling flats. The gnats can be very destructive. I had them in houseplants about 5 years ago. I got some stuff from Gardens Alive! It did kill the gnats, but also some of my houseplants. Not sure if I used it incorrectly although I tried to follow directions exactly...so I would be afraid to try it. I am researching safety of permrethrin with pets, but my pets aren't in my greenhouse, so it isn't a problem there.