Are Your Seedlings In Trouble? Here’s How To Help

When staring a garden, nurturing your wee seedlings requires attentiveness, love and some patience. To keep your sensitive seedlings safe and healthy you will need to recognize when they are not well.

Here are some signs that your wee ones are in trouble and what might be the culprit:

• No germination - Causes could be that it is too cold or hot, growing medium dried out, seeds were planted too deep or not deep enough, seeds are old, not enough light or improperly stored or seeds rotted in the soil. (damping off disease)

• Mold or Moss - Causes could be that there is not enough air circulation or too much moisture.

• Decaying or falling over- this could be damping off disease. Damping off disease is a horticultural disease or condition, caused by a number of different organisms that kill or weaken seeds or seedlings before or even after they germinate. This can be caused by the soil or the containers not being sterilized. Before you reuse your containers be sure to sterilize them! Other causes include not enough space for your seedlings to grow, poor air circulation, too much moisture, low light or cool temperatures.

• Stunted growth - is possibly caused by poor nutrients in soil or low temperatures.

• Spindly growth - could be caused by overcrowding your seedlings, not enough light or too much fertilizer.

• Leaves that curl under- Could be too much light or too much fertilization.

• Pale or discoloured leaves - May be insufficient lighting, too much water, not enough nutrients or fertilizer burn.

• Poorly developed roots- Some causes include low temperatures, poor soil nutrients, poor drainage and compacted soil that doesn’t leave enough air for the roots.

These are just a few things to keep an eye out for when you are germinating your wee ones.  Your seedlings need just the right conditions to grow up to be vibrant plants, so get out there and grow!