why do seedlings get 'stuck'

[red]

it happened to my celeriac last year and some red cabbages this year.. I sowed them, they germinated, I pricked them out.. they grew.. then stopped.. and neither died nor grew .

I have grown both before or since fine.. why does this happen?

[JustinFun]

Not hardened off enough? Our sweet peas last year weren't hardened off properly, and so did nothing at all from may until early september, when they suddenly went mad.

[red]

nah they have not made it outside at that point.. still in the greenhouse...

[Millymollymandy]

That happened to me a couple of years ago with some tomatoes. I put it down to using seed compost which is low in nutrients - but the plants hadn't got big enough to pot on into potting compost...... so they just sat there doing nothing!

When I finally did repot them (in desperation) they started to grow!

These days I just sow everything straight into regular potting compost - tho that probably explains why I am having germination problems with some things......

[MrsD'ville]

I've had a similar sort of problem: things have been planted outside then gone into stasis. I didn't really harden them off - that sort of forward planning seems beyond me, I'm more of a 'they're about the right size and I've got an hour so out they go' person! I'm hoping that when the weather gets less baltic again they'll start to do things. I'm learning so much this year.

[red]

MrsD - if its cold plants can often slow right down when outside. but they pick up. also its a bit of a shock to the plants to be transplanted.. so they have a bit of a sult about it before getting going again.

I'm not the best at hardening things off.. you are spose to take things out for a few hours a day at first.. then days only then days and nights.. over the years I have noticed what i do is bring the plants out.. forget about them.. they stay out and mostly I get away with it. I do let them sit outside in their pots for a bit before planting them... one shock at a time!

[MrsD'ville]

Yes, that's what I'm aiming for next year! I think I was a bit overambitious this year but hey, why not eh?

[Millymollymandy]

Hardening off here in the first two weeks of May meant getting used to a darn site hotter out there than they were indoors.......

[missie moo]

i started my celeriac seeds off outside and then transplanted them into a raised bed. they, too, grew for a while, and then decided to do bugger all. maybe they're in their 'teenage' stage . i haven't seen them for 6 weeks, so i've got my fingers crossed for a bit of progress
jane

[Mal]

I've had toms and rocket do this to me this year - I just use a one size fits all general compost on the grounds I can't find any peat free seeding/potting compost and also, well, it's soil isn't it? If they were trying this in the wild they'd have to cope with worse.

Anyway, plant philosophy aside, they've both just gone to first leaves stage and stopped - still inside, still on the windowsill, just stopped. I threw them away and started a new batch of toms which are merrily doing the same. Perhaps I need to pot them on earlier. The F1 Tumblers have been fine - the ones that have stopped are open pollinated older varieties but I'm not sure if that's linked.

I've got some bunching onions in as well which are really sulking that I transplanted them straight out rather than hardening them off. They've literally done nothing for about a month and a half. Ah well, didn't need the space for anything else so I reckon I'll just wait them out.

[red]

I dont think its the comppost - I have used the same seed and potting compost for years - new horizon - and used the same one for a second sowing which overtook the first... most odd. wonder what I'm doing wrong...

[MrsD'ville]

My theory it's the cold, dark May days! Couldn't believe how cold it was here yesterday - we merrily sit through December nights with just a blanket for warmth, but we put the heating on last night! I'd be sulking too if I was a tomato plant.