ok, sorry if this goes long.
Last summer I built a greenhouse for my 11yr-old girl. She wanted to grow Petunia's and sell them at the farmer's market this summer. I built a greenhouse for her hast summer and we started ordering seeds, pots, and other equipment in December. We planted 150 seeds at the end of January. I bought Burpee Seed starting mix. One thing that puzzled me was, that there was no seed starter mix that identified the ph of the soil on the bag. this seemed like something that should be prominent on the bag and it frustrated me that I had to take a chance on something.
The seeds germinated within a week and a half or so, and before that had all germinated, those that had germinated first started to wilt and die.
I suspected the PH was wrong. I tested the soil, and found it has a ph of about 5, whereas I needed about 6.5 I think. I bought lime and mixed it with water and started watering with the lime water.
the grow lights that I bought seemed odd to me from the start. They had a pinkish-purple light. I suspected that it this might have been part of the problem. Maybe the seeds had the energy within them to germinate, but the light wasn't giving the plants what they needed. I bought a second grow light from another company, which was white, and I left both on. I also thought that the plants may need food, so I started using Miracle-Grow in place of the lime water after a few days.
Finally, the basement was cool, probably about 70degrees, which I originally though should be ok for seedlings. But I brought in a couple heaters just to be safe, and kept the temperature at about 75 degrees. We had plenty of petunia seeds, so we replanted in February - now with new lights, heater, and miracle grow. Same thing happened.
This was agonizing. I have a 12x20 greenhouse waiting for 150 petunias, and only 3 survive, and they're not even an inch tall right now.
I found some vegetable seeds that I thought might do better in the seed starter mix. I thought the vegetables would be more robust, and maybe be better suited to the PH. I planted Peas, Green beans, Cauliflower, and Broccoli. The seeds were several years old, so I thought I might have trouble. Only 2 of 50 peas came up. Most the green beans came up and did very well. The broccoli took a while, but eventually came up, and the cauliflower came up almost 100%. I didn't know what was up with the peas, but I was content to imagine that it was because the seeds were too old.
A few nights ago, I took them into the greenhouse to get natural light. the greenhouse has been about 78 degrees during the day, but I kept them well watered. After the first day, they looked great. I went out the second day, and they had all wilted. They were folded over like the stem couldn't hold the weight of the plant.
I read allot of webpages and watched allot of videos on YouTube to get help and understanding prior to planting anything, and it always looks like the plants do all the work. Nobody said, Petunias are tricky or difficult. As a matte of fact, they're supposed to be pretty easy to grow. The people plant the seeds, then they grow. No magic. No dire warnings. Just advice on how to optimize their growth. I don't get it. I can't even get them to grow let alone optimize. What am I doing wrong?
Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.
Last summer I built a greenhouse for my 11yr-old girl. She wanted to grow Petunia's and sell them at the farmer's market this summer. I built a greenhouse for her hast summer and we started ordering seeds, pots, and other equipment in December. We planted 150 seeds at the end of January. I bought Burpee Seed starting mix. One thing that puzzled me was, that there was no seed starter mix that identified the ph of the soil on the bag. this seemed like something that should be prominent on the bag and it frustrated me that I had to take a chance on something.
The seeds germinated within a week and a half or so, and before that had all germinated, those that had germinated first started to wilt and die.
I suspected the PH was wrong. I tested the soil, and found it has a ph of about 5, whereas I needed about 6.5 I think. I bought lime and mixed it with water and started watering with the lime water.
the grow lights that I bought seemed odd to me from the start. They had a pinkish-purple light. I suspected that it this might have been part of the problem. Maybe the seeds had the energy within them to germinate, but the light wasn't giving the plants what they needed. I bought a second grow light from another company, which was white, and I left both on. I also thought that the plants may need food, so I started using Miracle-Grow in place of the lime water after a few days.
Finally, the basement was cool, probably about 70degrees, which I originally though should be ok for seedlings. But I brought in a couple heaters just to be safe, and kept the temperature at about 75 degrees. We had plenty of petunia seeds, so we replanted in February - now with new lights, heater, and miracle grow. Same thing happened.
This was agonizing. I have a 12x20 greenhouse waiting for 150 petunias, and only 3 survive, and they're not even an inch tall right now.
I found some vegetable seeds that I thought might do better in the seed starter mix. I thought the vegetables would be more robust, and maybe be better suited to the PH. I planted Peas, Green beans, Cauliflower, and Broccoli. The seeds were several years old, so I thought I might have trouble. Only 2 of 50 peas came up. Most the green beans came up and did very well. The broccoli took a while, but eventually came up, and the cauliflower came up almost 100%. I didn't know what was up with the peas, but I was content to imagine that it was because the seeds were too old.
A few nights ago, I took them into the greenhouse to get natural light. the greenhouse has been about 78 degrees during the day, but I kept them well watered. After the first day, they looked great. I went out the second day, and they had all wilted. They were folded over like the stem couldn't hold the weight of the plant.
I read allot of webpages and watched allot of videos on YouTube to get help and understanding prior to planting anything, and it always looks like the plants do all the work. Nobody said, Petunias are tricky or difficult. As a matte of fact, they're supposed to be pretty easy to grow. The people plant the seeds, then they grow. No magic. No dire warnings. Just advice on how to optimize their growth. I don't get it. I can't even get them to grow let alone optimize. What am I doing wrong?
Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.
