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Seedings dying after being potted on

nigel.pollittnigel.pollitt Posts: 10
in Problem solving
I potted up some very healthy seedlings of the wild spinach variety Giant Goosefoot. Shortly after potting them, most of them started to die. Not the stems, but from the leaf tips inwards, gradually getting crinkly then dying, but the stems appearing still to be alive (but with no chance obviousy of resprouting). I don't think it's fungal, it looks more like some kind of tiny bug. Any ideas?
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  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    What compost did you use?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That looks like a very, very big pot for the size of the seedlings. They'll be sitting in far too much wet compost. Seedlings should only be moved on when they have adequate roots, and enough top growth, and then into a slightly bigger pot.  :)
    Re what @Ceres is saying - if the compost isn't ideal, and is poorly draining, that won't help either.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nigel.pollittnigel.pollitt Posts: 10
    Thanks both. Ceres, I used a good quality peat-free compost, mixed with horticultural sand to give it some grit. The seeds were sown in that, and roared away. The problem was, the germination was very good and the seedlings were growing closely together, so rather than thin out I transplanted. Some have taken ok, and I take the point about the size of the pot etc, but they haven't been waterlogged, so I'm still rather mystified, and it seems to me it's possible that this plant simply dislikes being transplanted, pricked out etc. I attach two further pix, one of Aztec broccoli, a related species, and the other showing other seedlings that have transplanted ok. Had I not transplanted, the roots would have intertwined to a thick mat. I think with the plants remaining in the tray I will try transplanting to smaller pots with half, and leave the other half to grow together. 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    When it comes to pot size @nigel.pollitt , I always use tiny pots to prick out seedlings. That way they get a chance to grow a decent root system without being overwhelmed by a mass of sodden compost. It's also a lot easier to pot them up into something larger once they are growing well. I see you already recycle food packaging to grow seeds so might I suggest individual mousse pots for the next stage of the plants' growth. It's a win win situation. You eat the mousse, the seedlings get a perfect home for the next stage of their lives, and the plastic has a longer useful life than would otherwise be the case.

  • nigel.pollittnigel.pollitt Posts: 10
    Thanks for that Ceres, I get it ... smaller pot, more oxygen -- but it's funny isn't it, that some seedlings are completely happy with being planted straight into a large pot or tub? I have British basil and purple perilla pricked out after their first true leaves and very happy in a largeish trough. I also grow the marvellous watercress aqua, that grows happily in soil, and that never dies off. These goosefoot (feet) are a different matter, and since they are happy to germinate in larger containers, I think in future I'll just sow them carefully and singly where I want them to reside later on. I'm trying a lot of things at the moment to try to discover greens that the slugs won't destroy. So far, watercress aqua and perennial kale are the only viable crops, as well as some mustards. I also sowed giant winter spinach, but the slugs have already slayed!
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    I have battled gastropods for seemingly centuries and have come to the conclusion that they will always win. There is a beauty to slugs and snails, especially by torchlight. I have used cola bottles, copper tape, pellets (times have changed), unarmed combat, beer, plus the more repulsive salt and scissors methods but I hate doing it so now I let them get on with it. The birds have to have something meaty to eat. I think the only way to grow veg without worry is to have some sort of raised bed that hovers a foot about the ground and isn't under any trees or plants that slugs can use as a launching point.
  • diggersjodiggersjo Posts: 172
    I'm not too keen on chopping the slugs, but I'm sure that's why we have had a couple of hedgehogs in the garden the last few years - I leave the bits for them to eat! 
    Yorkshire, ex Italy and North East coast. Growing too old for it!
  • nigel.pollittnigel.pollitt Posts: 10
    wow, you're very lucky to have hedgehogs. I had one a few times when I moved here 23 years ago, but then concrete kickers at the bottom of garden fences were invented and all hedgehog activity ceased. I'm completely with you on the letting nature do its thing ethos -- it's just exhausting and expensive otherwise, far better to just grow whatever the local ecosystem decides not to devour in my experience, which is why I proselytise for wonderful watercress aqua 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There's a bit of a myth re the hedgehog/frog thing with slugs. Slugs only form a small part of their diet, so even if you have both in your garden, it doesn't mean you'll be free of slugs.
    Slugs are just part of gardening here, so you either have to do the relentless patrolling at night [I'm asleep too early for that nonsense] and snipping, or grow plants that are less attractive to them. Not always ideal. Fleshy soft growth is what they love, so it can be difficult with things like large flowering, later clematis. They're consistently out during the day here, so I can snip if I see them. 
     
    I've said recently on the forum that one way of keeping them off prized plants until they're big enough to withstand it, is to put troughs/pots raised up in a tray of water. They can't cross the water, and unless they're already in the soil/compost, the only other way they can get to the plants is if there's overhanging foliage or similar nearby for them to bungee in from. 
    Not attractive, and not ideal if you have loads of plants, but it can be useful for anything terribly vulnerable. It's the only way I can successfully grow lettuce outside.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nigel.pollittnigel.pollitt Posts: 10
    Totally with you on that Fairygirl. They can't swim, and hate water more than cats! Our three hostas sit in wide water trays, though it's very easy for the defences to be breached! I've given up trying with lettuce -- if the molluscs don't get them, then the pigeons do, though I've noticed that pigeons only really attack veg in march, at which point they'll eat even hot mustardy things like land cress. 
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