Seedlings with issues
 

Hey y'all.

I put in 50 seeds about 10 days ago, and about 1/3 have come up so far. I have a couple tho that have issues, and I'm wondering whether to pull 'em out and replant those, or just let 'em go and see what happens.

My biggest concern is a Patio Princess that's got a funny leaf curl thing going on. The first leaves are straight along their length, but they're rolled downward, like taquitos. Is this a threat to the rest of my plants?

What's the acceptable timeframe for no-show seeds? At what point are they considered "duds" and can be resown?

Thanks...

Cull the bad, save the best.

Don

The first year TGSC released Black Cherry, it took some of them over 3 weeks to germinate.

Don't be too hasty by throwing anything away until at least three weeks passes. Some varieties take a lot longer than others, and seed age can also be a factor.

Patience is the key word here. :wink:

This season I sowed four Dr. Carolyn seeds in a 1" cell, alongside my others. The packs got bottom heat for about five days, until most of the cells had sprouted. I only got one Dr. Carolyn, but I figured I only needed one... they were pretty young seeds, three years old or less, but sometimes they just don't come up.

A couple of days ago, up came two more, late but healthy. Their sib already has a set of true leaves, and is thinking about more; this is about three and a half weeks after sowing. And that was with fresh seed and bottom heat. :o

Don't give up on tomato seeds -- like jokers, they'll turn up when you least expect them. I'd give them a month... if you're worried you won't have enough, sow a few more as well, and give away any extras you end up with.

--Alison
who was also waiting for Brandywine Sudduth and Olga's Round Yellow Chicken, sowed more during the wait, and now has LOTS. The extras will go to the college plant sale...

I, personally, dont have patience with them. 2 weeks tops and I replant. I want everything now! :D
Chuck B

Hi Allison,

I grew up in Concord: what college sale will you be at? Now, I KNOW I have more than enough seedlings up to fill my garden to overflowing, but I'm not beyond temptation for a tom I didn't start... :lol:

I've had a few that are very late coming, but they did come up. 3 weeks, then I resowed some I had to have. Others, well, maybe next year.

dee

Re: Seedlings with issues
 

[i]My biggest concern is a Patio Princess that's got a funny leaf curl thing going on. The first leaves are straight along their length, but they're rolled downward, like taquitos. Is this a threat to the rest of my plants?[/i]

I had my some of my seedlings in the Purples and curly, and I added some very dilute fertilizer solution and overnight 90% of the curled ones uncurled. I had read somewhere that lack of phosphorous can make them curl. The weird thing is that I have never had to feed them before, even though I use the same method each year. Try a weak fertilizer solution---for example, if there are directions for "if you feed your plants each time you water...." (which is more dilute than regular biweekly feeding) then use [i]half[/i] that amount again for your seedling solution.
Hey, it worked for me, give it a shot!

And I still am waiting on 16 out of 72 seeds to come up that I sowed 15 days ago, but each day there is a new one that sprouts so don't give up--wait at least 21 days, more if you can.

Good luck,
AJ

Also try this for the slow germinating seedlings:

Add 3 baby aspirin (the uncoated, chewable kind) to a gallon of water. Mix well and put some in a spray bottle and spray it on the top of the soil where your seeds are planted. This is supposed to greatly help germination, and I tried it and all of a sudden the ones that have sat there for 18 days are popping up!

It is useful on the plants themselves, too. Salicylic acid (aspirin) is produced by plants when they are stressed from disease, environment, whatever, but often they cannot produce it fast enough to overcome what ails them. Use the same concentration above on plants showing disease or stress and it is supposed to help them fight it, kind of like when we take antibiotics to help get rid of something our body didn't fight off well enough.

This is my first time trying it, but I saw results posted that researchers got near 100% germination using it and were able to slow down and stop some diseases. They sprayed it also as a preventative every 2 weeks and saw much less disease and more vigorous growth. I don't know if it's true or not, but it seems to have really helped my late germinators, and aspirin is cheap so why not? I plan on trying it in the garden as well, I always have some pathogens in my soil, and I can't rotate planting sites so I have to just deal with it. I'm hoping this will help!

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know...
Andrea