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  • #1

    Seedlings stalled

    Advice please...

    On 1st March I sowed four pots of Brussels sprouts, four different varieties. I left them on the cold greenhouse bench with a propagator lid over them.

    After a week or so they all germinated so I whipped off the lid to let them breathe.

    Since then, two of the varieties have grown on nicely and are now ready for potting up individually in modules.

    But the other two just stalled, like this:



    I'm going to re-sow, so I pulled a few up to see what was going on underneath. Sorry the picture isn't very clear, but the roots have either curled up or not grown at all:



    I've not had this problem before, when seedlings fail for me it's usually damping off

    Obviously I didn't intentionally do anything different between the four varieties. Any ideas what went wrong so I can avoid in future? Dodgy seed, dodgy compost or accidental mistreatment?

    Cheers!
    Attached Files
    My gardening blog: In Spades, last update 30th April 2018.
    Chrysanthemum notes page here.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Originally posted by Martin H View Post
    Dodgy seed, dodgy compost or accidental mistreatment?
    I would say the latter. I would always sow different varieties in separate pots, I grow Flowers of Spring and Precoce de Louviers cabbages and they do behave quite differently even if it's only a few hours difference in germination time. I've also got a packet of mixed lettuce seed and it really annoys me when I have to thin them out because, if I did it logically, I would end up with all the same plants (the ones that are a bit bigger when the scissors come out).

    Maybe when you looked at the whole pot of seeds these didn't stand out as different but really they were. It's either that or s()d's law! Why don't you let the ones you haven't killed grow on and see what happens?
    Last edited by marchogaeth; 30-03-2015, 10:31 AM.
    "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."

    PS. I just don't have enough time to say hello to everyone as they join so please take this as a delighted to see you here!

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    • #3
      I think most likely reason is that the ones with poor root development are wetter / too wet.
      K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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      • #4
        Thanks for the reply, Marchogaeth.

        I'm not sure I was clear in my initial post, I sowed each variety in a different pot just for the reasons you outlined. So I had a really nice pot each of Evesham Special and Rubine, but a rubbish pot each of Trafalgar and Bedford. The pictures in my post are of Bedford.
        My gardening blog: In Spades, last update 30th April 2018.
        Chrysanthemum notes page here.

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        • #5
          Duff seed? If you've given them the same treatment, same compost, same watering, seed is the variable. I think sometimes (not always) we're too quick to blame ourselves for seedling problems. Was speaking to someone in HSL and they were saying that there are more instances of lower/hinky germinations in some seeds than others, depending on how long they were stored before being packed. And whether the seed packets had been in something like garden centre conditions before you got them.
          http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

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          • #6
            Originally posted by sparrow100 View Post
            I think sometimes (not always) we're too quick to blame ourselves for seedling problems. Was speaking to someone in HSL and they were saying that there are more instances of lower/hinky germinations in some seeds than others, depending on how long they were stored before being packed. And whether the seed packets had been in something like garden centre conditions before you got them.
            I'd be interested in other folks' views, but I would expect that to impact germination percentage, rather than the ability for a germinated seed to form a proper root?
            K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Martin H View Post
              Thanks for the reply, Marchogaeth.
              I sowed each variety in a different pot just for the reasons you outlined.
              Sorry to treat you like an idiot! Some comments still apply if you treated all the pots the same way, though.

              Originally posted by Kristen View Post
              I'd be interested in other folks' views, but I would expect that to impact germination percentage, rather than the ability for a germinated seed to form a proper root?
              Agreed.
              "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."

              PS. I just don't have enough time to say hello to everyone as they join so please take this as a delighted to see you here!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Kristen View Post
                I'd be interested in other folks' views, but I would expect that to impact germination percentage, rather than the ability for a germinated seed to form a proper root?
                I wouldn't think it would be limited to that - duff seed can make weak seedlings. I don't want to labour the point, but germinating is a viability test not vigour. It doesn't follow that if a seed germinates it makes a strong seedling.
                http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

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                • #9
                  Yes, we could go round and round or on and on. To me, roots like that suggest a check for some reason but that's based on my knowledge of sugar beet growing! (Which is quite possibly out of date.)
                  "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."

                  PS. I just don't have enough time to say hello to everyone as they join so please take this as a delighted to see you here!

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                  • #10
                    Have you had any of those compost / scariad flies around? I think I'm right in saying their larvae eat roots. Not significant on an established plant but enough to stop a seedling.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by WendyC View Post
                      Have you had any of those compost / scariad flies around? I think I'm right in saying their larvae eat roots. Not significant on an established plant but enough to stop a seedling.
                      Ooh that's a thought. I have had some this season, I had always thought of them as harmless, but apparently not: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=804

                      I didn't see any little white worms in the compost when I emptied the pots; mind you I wasn't looking very hard.
                      My gardening blog: In Spades, last update 30th April 2018.
                      Chrysanthemum notes page here.

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