Beginner Gardening: Seed Starting Troubles, 1 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi apj,

Those cells look awfully small. I would never use anything smaller than a 3-inch square pot for a seedling. However, your 4-inch nursery pots should have worked fine.

That Espoma organic seedling soil might be suspect. I use Premier ProMix, and it works fine. It is a \"soil-less\" product. I am NOT an organic gardener, so I get a bit suspicious when that word is used.

\" This time I explicitly let the soil get nice and dry between waterings (if this sounds like a red flag to you, you\'ll be sad to learn that I wasn\'t doing that before, so it is unlikely the cause of the issue). I also used standard 1020 cells to control for dampness. \"

I advise you to stop using cells and start using pots. I use 3-inch square plastic pots and I will probably convert to the extra deep version of them this Winter. Don\'t let your medium get completely dry. Plant root hairs die when dry, and it is the hairs that absorb water and nutrients.

\" I did a couple rounds of dilute liquid seaweed fertilizer. \"

Well, I have no idea what is in that seaweed fertilizer. But you shouldn\'t be having this much trouble. What are you using for water to water your cells with?

\" I have so many seeds I dream of buying this winter but I can\'t commit to that cost if I can\'t even show success with one seedling. Please help me get a second set of true leaves. \"

You should get way more than just a set of true leaves. You are absolutely correct in requiring a successful methodology before committing to a big seed investment. I grow zinnias from seed to seed indoors during the Winter, so what you want to do can be done.

ZM