Morning Glories - Seedlings Dying

Hi Everyone.

I managed to get hold of some "Blue Silk" & "Flying Saucer" Morning Glory seeds - Placed them in my propagator for a bit and hey presto! loads of little seedlings - I moved the seedlings to their own pots, placed them in a warm position, but not in direct sunlight inside the house and all was well - but over the past week or so 80% the seedlings seem to be withering and dying - anyone have any ideas?

cheers

Daniel ;-)

PS - I'm a newbie gardener!

maybe they aren't getting enough light???

too wet?

See this article on damping off:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1167.html

Does that sound like what happened?

i have had a few i started to early die off too. where are you at? you might of shocked them also by moving them too early. you have to let them have a true set of leaves. when they start a runner then its okay to transplant. i always wait till this point and sometimes shock still happens.

Hi
I dont think 'damping off' is the problem as the plants are dying leaves first and then stem. Perhaps the problem is that I started the seeds of to early? - I live in the UK. Or perhaps Imzadi could be right and the seedlings have gone into shock - I did wait until the seedlngs had a fully developed set of leaves before removing them from the propagator.

Direct sow them when the weather is good in your area. They hate to be transplanted.

I agree with Brinda. They really don't like to be transplanted. Because they have not so many rootlets (fine roots). If you don't want to sow direct, you better sow it in a 3inch pot and you have to wait untill the pot is filled with the roots. Then, you can plant it in yor bed. They also need full sun light and high temperature (25c-30c) so you better sow the seed in midle of April or May. You can glow them in outside. Morning glorie is a short-day plant, so however you sow them early, they won't bloom until summer solstice. Good luck!!!

Hi Daniel and welcome to DG :)
Whereabouts in the UK are you? I'm in Kent.

I've had trouble with morning glory in the past. They're not well suited to our climate :( and I agree with goldenfish about sowing in a 3" pot and not disturbing them. Even when they appear to be well established in their pots they still often dislike being planted out when summer eventually comes. They like so much sun - and a fair amount of water too to keep them growing without check.

Good luck...

Okay - everyone thanks for the help! - enough to be going on with and to think about for now. In reply to Philomel - I line in Cliffsend (Just outside Ramsgate)

Cheers everyone!

I have some extra Flying Saucer seeds I can send you if you want to try it again. Doris

Well there's a coincidence.
I'll be in Folkestone today - which is even nearer to you than Sittingbourne, where I live

thanks for the kind offer djm906, but I still have quite a few seeds left over and will try again a bit later in the year ;-)