RE: [CH] all my seedlings die on me

T. Matthew Evans (matt.evans@ce.gatech.edu)
Wed, 23 May 2001 09:35:02 -0400 

Are you hardening off your seedlings before transplanting?  It is beneficial
to gradually acclimate the seedlings to the outside environment prior to
pulling a full transplant.  Hardening off should take about a week -- on day
one, place your seedlings outside in full sun for about an hour or so then
bring them back inside.  Each day, increase their outdoor exposure by about
an hour until you reach full sun, then transplant.  Continue watering as
normal during the hardening off process.

Also, are you using some sort of fertilizer (fish emulsion or dilutely-mixed
20-20-20 powdered chemical fertilizer works) when you transplant?  Dig your
hole, place your seedlings in it, pour in, say, a cup of the fertilizer mix,
and then fill in the hole.

Lastly, you should transplant your seedlings such that they are covered in
dirt up to the bottom set of leaves, often as much as 50% of the plant.
This will protect the roots and prevent the plants from getting "leggy".
Hope this helps.

Matt

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com
[mailto:owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com]On Behalf Of Karen Stober
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 8:21 AM
To: chile-heads@globalgarden.com
Subject: [CH] all my seedlings die on me


As usual, most of my seedlings died within hours after transplanting.  I
didn't disturb the roots.  But, by the following morning, half looked like
they had been pinched, had withered and fallen over.  So I watered the next
batch less.  Same thing happened.  A week later and only maybe a half dozen
of over a hundred seedlings survive.  The cats are sitting on the pots and
crushing what is left.  I had one pot where almost all the seedlings lived.
The cats knocked it over.  I managed to salvage most, but by the next
morning, all had withered and died.  The Red Kaka Beak from New Zealand
withered and died within an hour after transplanting.

What am I doing wrong?   All the pots and soil are brand new.

Karen E. Stober
kstober@us.ibm.com