problem with young seedlings

I'm growing sweetheart melons from seed. I've put them in 3 inch pots filled with 1cm compost. After 2 weeks I transferred one of them into a large pot but it hasn't shown any further signs of new life. When/how are they supposed to be transferred? What do I do with the plant?

When you transplant things to a larger pot, they will often focus on increasing their roots first in the new space, then once they've done that they'll start with new top growth. Also, are you fertilizing? New seedlings will need some fertilizer, I usually use about half or a quarter the strength that I would on a full grown plant. Without fertilizer they won't grow much either.

I put plant feed in. Can the plants be transferred without harming them? When should this be done? They are 10cm tall now.

This message was edited Jul 12, 2007 4:14 PM

Hi prost, dont add any plant food till you see the plants put on real growth or you will burn all the new tender roots they are trying to make, as for when to transfer them, I always wait till any seedlings have at least 2 sets of new leaves and only handle them by the leaves, never the stem as the stem can be damaged and fungus can set in, never add more plantfood than it say's on the directions as too much is worce than none at all, also you dont want all leaves and no flowers to set for the fruit to come. with new seedlings, I try to water from the bottom, like place the tray or small pots onto a tray thay has no holes in it, with water added, then when the soil turns a darker shade, it tells me that I have wet the compost enough and lift them back out to drain, it is a bit slower than overhead watering, but then I do another job while the plants are soaking up the moisture and it keeps the water off the foliage of the young plants till they are not quite as tender. hope all this helps you a bit, I am only giving you guidlines here, you will eventually find a way to suit you and the different seeds you want to grow, good luck, Weenel.

I moved them after the cotyledon/first leaves appeared but before the main leaves were grown. What do I do?

You should hold off on the fertilizer then, WeeNel is right about wanting to wait until they have their true leaves before you do that. Since you had already transplanted them, I assumed they already had their true leaves. Since they were so small when you transplanted them, it may take them a little while to show new growth. I think it's generally better to wait until they've got their first set or two of true leaves before you transplant them into a larger pot. I would focus on making sure you're watering them correctly, seedlings that small are going to be very susceptible to overwatering, damping off, etc and if you can keep them healthy that way, then eventually they'll make more leaves.