Starting plants from seeds?

[galmal]

I've had really good luck propagating plants from cuttings and dividing, and direct sowing outdoors, but for the life of me, I just can't get plants started from seeds indoors. I always use good quality potting soil, I plant the seeds according to directions, I water from the bottom, keeping the soil moist but not soggy. The seeds sprout and I get the first pair of leaves, but then the plants just get long and leggy. If I'm lucky, I might get another couple pairs of leaves, but the stem grows tall and scrawny and then dies. What am I doing wrong? Any help would be much appreciated as I'm on a tight budget this year, and if I want to plant anything new, I really need to start them from seed myself.

 

[CanadianLori]

Sounds like your seedlings are "stretching" to get to the light. Are they in a sunny place?

 

[Chuck]

As CanadianLoriz says your seedlings are stretching for light and possibly are contracting damping off. Give them more light, keep them at a steady warm temp and sprinkle horticultural (whole ground cornmeal, not the enriched kind) cornmeal around the base of you seedlings. Also have adequate air circulation. Use a small fan, just enough to keep the air circulating

 

[CanadianLori]

This cornmeal idea facinates me. Please tell me more.

Many thanks
Lori

 

[marlingardener]

You don't need an expensive "gro-light" for your seedlings. We have a four shelf unit with two florescent lights suspended from the shelf above. When the seedlings sprout, they move to about 2-3" under the light. As Chuck said, a fan is a good idea. It not only helps keep air circulating, but it also strengthens the stems.
If you have trouble finding horticultural cornmeal, you can use a baking soda solution. The proportions aren't critical--I put a teaspoon of baking soda in a half-pint of water and spray the soil around the seedlings. If some gets on the seedlings it doesn't matter--just gives them temporary white spots on the leaves.
Shelving cost $10 at Harbor Freight, light fixtures and tubes cost about $10 each, and I re-use the trays and six or nine packs for several years before they just give up. The $30 investment in shelving and lights has lasted about four years s

 

[Chuck]

This cornmeal idea facinates me. Please tell me more.

Many thanks
Lori

Horticultural or Whole Ground Cornmeal doesn't do anything except act as the growing medium of choice for a fungus named Trichoderma. Trichoderma is a beneficial fungus that actually kills many harmful fungi like Damping Off Fungus. It also aids in reducing such things as Early Blight on tomatoes and when made and sprayed as a tea is also very helpful in stopping the spread of all kinds of mildew on plants such as Downey and Powdery Mildew As a side benefit it will 100% cure athletes foot, toenail fungus and jock rash. Plus it makes great cornbread and hush puppies

 

[CanadianLori]

OMG did not know this. Will try to source. Thank you for sharing!

i regularly bake cornbread and add hot peppers to them for my adventurous friends and yes i do get a devillish pleasure from it

 

[Chuck]

OMG did not know this. Will try to source. Thank you for sharing!

i regularly bake cornbread and add hot peppers to them for my adventurous friends and yes i do get a devillish pleasure from it

For someone 114 years old, according to your profile, you look amazingly healthy. Must be the hot peppers in your cornbread.

 

[CanadianLori]

For someonI 114 years old, according to your profile, you look amazingly healthy. Must be the hot peppers in your cornbread.

I have a little fun with the year. It started when i read about china investigating the 130 year old people collectng pensions. Too too funny! Guess their government is as clever as ours!

 

[galmal]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I like the Harbor Freight shelf idea, I'll have to go shopping right away . I'll certainly try the cornmeal idea, sounds like it might really help. I'll give it one more try this year and see what happens. Thanks again for all the useful tips.

 

[ChanellG]

I'm hardly an expert, but a lot of seedlings apparently need to be pinched on top once they reach a certain stage to encourage branching and bushing out. I'd look into specific growing info for each plant before changing anything you're already doing. Getting the seeds to sprout is the hardest part, so just do a little research into each plant.