7 Solutions For Stunted Seedlings
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- Grab some Epic 6-Cell Trays: growepic.co/3N6P7JW - Stunted seedlings are a huge demotivator in the garden. It's happened to me more than I'd like to admit. Here are all of our solutions to troubleshoot if you're struggling with your seedlings.
IN THIS VIDEO
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - Bad Seeds
01:08 - Not Thinning
01:47 - Over Watering
03:10 - The Right Location
04:07 - Overgrown Seedling
06:07 - Seed Starting Soil
09:20 - Outro
DISCLAIMER
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40 years ago my grandma had the same hat Jacques is sporting these days. In fact, I have a gorgeous photo of her looking stately in her VERY EPIC garden (posing in front of dahlias). Every time I see that hat, I think of her!
It's a fantastic hat!
Switch to that hat style last year and haven't looked back.
These hats are so popular here in Southern California since they are usually produced in Mexico!
Aw, that's so sweet
Is that hat a Tula?
00:35 Bad or incorrectly stored seeds
01:48 Overwatering
03:11 Placement of seedlings in elements
04:08 Leaving them too long in starting pot
06:07 Seed-starting soil not having enough nutrients 920% worm castings) has big objects to screen out
09:20 Add fertilizer 2 weeks
10:22 Extra tips
Always thank you nice people's.
I get my trays from local nurseries. They usually have stacks and stacks just going to the dump. Sometimes i have to dig through to find a full tray of undamaged cells but it's free and worth it. And, sometimes they have discarded plants you can take too. I came back with a truck load of 10gal pots, 1gal pots, 4in pots, and a few trays of 6 ans 4 cell trays. I also found a 155 cell tray that they used for their incoming tissue culture, which works really well for seedlings (especially onions) but needed transplanted very fast. I like the fast dry out time, to help strong growth and keep down mold/fungus.
The nursery i went to had just began hiring and planning for the upcoming spring season, and they are in a high end area, which means they were throwing out anything that didn't look perfect. Came home with 2 dozen 1 gallon pots with purple sages, various lavenders, a few augastaches, and a whole bunch of others. Then i decided to apply for their wholesale position just for the spring and was able to bring home flats and flats of discarded plants. I brought home so many pepper plants that my own seedlings are still in their 6 packs lol. It's only 13.50/hr but i lost 20lbs in 2 months and I'm happier than ever exchanging corporate life for one that i get to say good morning to a 100 foot greenhouse of blooming violas every day.
Great video, Kevin! With regards to the comment on over-watering, this is spot on. I read a great quote from a greenhouse research specialist on watering..."The job isn’t 'to water’-the job is to dry the plants out so you can water." Understanding this and applying it in your seed propagation can go a long way to having success. Another quote, “Fish grow in water, roots grow in air.”
Keep up the epic work!
Good tips. I agree, get ‘em in the ground asap and take it from there. In general I’ve pretty much given up on starting seeds and now wait until the nighttime temp is 50 and then just plant seeds in the ground. It works fine and eliminates literally months of wasted time and effort. I can do a lot of other worthwhile stuff with the time spent fussing over seed starting - not to mention the obscene ridiculous expense of all the polluting plastic paraphernalia involved. Why get sucked up in the TH-cam world of virtue signaling and not stick some seeds in the ground and simplify life?
I’ve learned more from your videos than I have from two years of botany classes in college.. thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! ☀️
If only they'd do some tissue culture
I tend to use my own seed starting mix consisting of 2 cups shredded/blended dry leaves, 1 cup perlite, 1/2 cup of ground soil, 2tbsp bone meal, 2tbsp dried, crushed banana peels.The seedlings always do fine for about a month or so without needing extra feeding.
Nice
Do you heat the leaves, etc to disinfect/prevent mold?
Wow ! I'm gonna try that
I usually bury banana peels all over the garden
Gonna have to try this too. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
It's the 30 March 2024 and I am about to go out to start seedlings. This video and the other Epic Gardening gem "Don’t Make THESE Seedling Mistakes" have given me so much useful information to keep in mind and practice when planting that I cannot wait to see the results. Thank you for sharing these tips & ideas.
No matter how many weed growing channels I check out, when it comes to general gardening tips, nothing beats your channel, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us! Especially that soil composition depending on time of the year and water evaporation is really useful and makes a lot of sense to unlock further understanding of the plant science itself! I'm training with weed, but the plan is to become self sufficient on food production too, so it's pointless to learn about weed growing in a vacuum haha especially with all the bro science out there.
I made my own starting mix as well using a mix of light mix soil, coco fiber, perlite, worm castings and a tiny bit of organic fert pebbles near the bottom so they don't starve if the roots don't progress too fast before transplant. Left an inch of only coco at the top where I put the germinated seeds. They have exploded, I will keep using this method! Now's time to transplant. All I will say is that while this method is great, I did notice a problematic deficiency when it comes to calmag. I supplemented it through the water after a couple weeks when it started to be a problem and they thrived from it. I also used liquid mycorrhizae meant for coco, it really helped I think. I hope they will keep living and growing happily, I'm not putting them in their definite pot just yet. I don't want to root shock them after being for a while in their tiny germination tray.
This explains A LOT about why my seedling failed this year. Can't wait to implement these tips into my fall harvest
this is my first year ever to garden vegetables for food and I'm learning as I go along thanks so much for your channel there is so much to learn southern California greetings
Same :)
Loving the transitions/summoning effects when Jacques appears in EG videos!
Makes so much sense. Not only about seeds being kept freash. Love your little set up amazing. I appreciate you admitting a pro like you have suffered aswell from stunted seedlings and giving hope .Thanks for another amazing job
One of the reasons I find that seedlings become stunted is due to potting mix which is too loose. Lots of people say you should use something loose like coconut coir to start seeds because "their weak seedling roots can't break through dirt". Which is utter nonsense. Most if not all seedling roots are well-equipped to penetrate through plain dirt - if they were not, they'd never survive or propogate in the wild. Coconut coir is actually subpar for root entrainment since it's TOO loose; seedling roots can't get ahold of it very well and can fail to establish, and risk of root damage is greater when transplanting.
I've never had luck starting seeds in coir or similar. As long as the mix you're using is free of clumps and large bits of organic matter, it will work fine.
I have to disagree. I use nothing but coir and my seedlings are thriving
I used coir for the first time this year and the ones in straight coir are by far the smallest, slowest growing and have the thinnest and wispiest roots!
@@xLaLaLunax I used the burpee organic seed starting mix
Those wood peices in my store-bought potting mix did exactly what is stated here. It blocked a few of my seeds from being able to grow. I figured that out a little too late and had to start over. I make my own mix now. I do like the screen idea. I'll do that with the potting mix I stopped using.
Hello Sandy
KEVIN! I just wanna say two things; 1) great information as usual, I certainly appreciate it. 2) The anime transitions/animations! Need these to remain. You did some Naruto ones the other day, and this one had what looked like a DBZ animation with Jacques. Perfect. Thank you
:P
I live up in Ohio, and I'm consistently frustrated with how my seedlings start off indoors, mostly because I wasn't ever really taught how to *care* about my seeds. My dad'd start tomato seeds in a big 50 count tray with peat disks, one seed per disk, and that's the way he taught me to do it, so in my tiny apartment starting seeds 1-by-1 in a tiny little 8-count tray has been frustrating as heck.
But I've been learning a lot since I started watching regularly, and I think I know what I'm getting myself for Christmas.
Hi kevin, moved and bought a house in Vegas last year. I now have a permaculture cottage garden. 35 plus fruit trees. 4 chickens/vege patch and herb patch. And 300 plus species of flowering plants. Thanks for the video 😊
Hi! I’m in Vegas! I just started container gardening here. Any tips for the hot summer?!
The combined wisdom of Eric and Jacques is Epic. Thanks for the good advice on seedlings. This is my 1st time planting seeds, other than zinnias, which are easy - drop and cover.
Hello Kathryn
Two amazing gardeners and teachers together, awesome video thank you!
Good tip on sifting the potting soil. I've used it to start seeds but with massive wood chips getting in the way. I have a ton of it so I'm not going to go buy "seed starting mix" when I can just use what I have lol
Leggy seedlings are always more my problem than stunted. I know how to prevent it, it’s just hard with my property’s sub light and my area’s soil. I’m trying though and of course still have had some epic harvests (just starting from seeds is kind of hard).
A way you can solve it is rotating your seedlings everyday!
I have that problem too! What do you do?
So many great tips!! I definitely did many things wrong this year but I’m so excited to keep learning. Next years garden will be even better!
Loved the six cells. I started everything in them, even corn! I had to up-pot the corn pretty quickly though. The four cells will be great for those fast growing seedlings than need a bit more room.
I use toilet paper rolls for my seed starting. Mostly because I can not afford to buy the normal seed trays. It does work well, but it does not take long for the tp rolls to biodegrade.
@@hands2hearts-seeds2feedamu83 thats a very nice diy alternative!
Yup great for tomatoes, etc!
@@hands2hearts-seeds2feedamu83 well shoot, I totally forgot about TP rolls for my sweat peas I just sowed. Thanks for the reminder. Did you find that they molded on you?
@@melissasullivan1658
No I did not have a problem with that... They composted a little quickly. I save a load to use this year.
Dude, you just explained my issue with seedlings, thank you!
Wow. I've never heard that the roots wouldn't auras out of over watering and that's why it stunts them. MIND BLOWN! Thank you!
That tip on sifting the potting mix to save money on seed starting mix is aces! Thank you so much for the information.
I'm waiting on the 4-cell pots because I strongly dislike up-potting from the smaller seed starting trays. I also sift my potting soil to use for starts, and I like to put vermiculite on top of the soil to help prevent damping off (but vermiculite seems to have disappeared from garden center shelves recently). I'm looking forward to trying out your trays with the design you have. I like the side slits for root development.
Coming soon :0
I literally just ordered vermiculite from Amazon this last week because my local place constantly runs out. I’m in 9b California so verm is pretty much a necessity for us super hot container gardeners.
Tl;dr: I feel your pain, but check out Amazon if you have to. I get the fine grained stuff for $14 I think?
@@melissasullivan1658 I just found some this weekend at a nursery I frequent here in Southern California. They had tiny little bags or bags large enough to put a couple people inside. I'll take a look on Amazon since you have been satisfied with what you bought. They say I'm in zone 9b-10a, but I just tell people I'm in zone 9-12 depending on the year.
@@domesti-city Amen. I felt bad for the PNW gardeners last year who suddenly found themselves with a California garden weather struggle. I like to remind myself that there are successful farms in Vegas: if they can, we can. At least that’s what I tell myself when my tomatoes don’t pollinate.
Try soil blocking. Most blockers leave a divot in the top for seed placement. One method, other than just pinching the top closed, is topping them off with your vermiculite. An alternative to vermiculite, is perlite. Benefits to soil blocks is the air pruning=less transplant shock. Bottom watering is still possible, but having a solid bottom can cause the roots to spread and mat. A tray with holes inside a solid tray could be the solution.
Such an informative video. Learned so much about why my seed starter soil always lets me down. Thank you for the help!!
i love your channel because i live in San Diego and your channel helps me alot to learn how to grow plants in the weather here. thanks alot!
I started using the 6 cell trays and I love them - the roots are out the bottom you use your finger to push the plant out and they are sturdy and reusable- love love love them
I love your moveable seed table. Thanks for the tips.
oh man 2 of my favorite garden youtubers together!!! what a treat!
I’ve been watering all my seedlings and even plants that need an added nutrient with mycorrhiza. It’s like a miracle liquid that not only allows roots to get stronger but your entire plants will love you!
I've heard of that. It comes from chicken manure, right?
@@chibigirl8545 mycorrhiza doesn't come from chicken manure. There are endo and ecto mycorrhiza both of which are mutualistic fungi. Sometimes mycorrhiza will come with the fertilizer you buy. Sometimes you need to buy it seperately.
I use those large wood chunks from the potting mix to fill the bottom of pots in which I grow all season and also as mulch on top of the all season potted plants. So, I put wood chunks into the bottom of my medium sized pot about 1/4 of the way up the sides. Then, I fill the pot withing 1/2 inch of the top with the screened potting soil for the same mix. I plant the seed / seedling / plant in the soil and water in well. Last I top the moist soil around the plant with more wood chunks and place in the appropriate growing area. I use the whole bag of potting mix and see it as a positive win/win for my gardening needs. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
ooohhhh.I love the idea to clip the smaller ones..love your little scissor things..I love your pull along seedling tray too!😊lots of great tips on seed starting.thankyou..This really is the best video I have watched on starting seeds..
Hello Melanie
I find myself watching you a lot more because your zoomed-in videos fit my Fold3 without getting too cropped lol
Your videos always help me freshen up on the many nuances of this amazing hobby.... stay classy! ;)
Thanks coach, this is the pep talk I needed to get back in the game! I'll keep you posted..
Solid information. Going to have to exercise fertilizer this year. I think that’s why my tomatoes stunted last year since I start them 3-4 months ahead of plant out.
This is good video it helped lift a weight off my shoulders for next year before I had no idea where I was going to start with my seeds amazing video thank you!
Great video. Will keep in mind to add worm castings in spring start soil. Thanks for sharing.
FABULOUS - FABULOUS- JUST PERFECT. Great video guys as I have had some trouble recently raising my seedlings but not anymore. Thank You & Cheers Denise- Australia
This was an excellent video, that many people don't talk about.
You helped me, actually understand and learn clearly in the way that you've explained yourself in this amazing vid.
Thank you
In my experience, the best seed starting mix, and honestly generally all-around potting mix is equal parts coco coir and well draining potting mix, and as much perlite and/or vermiculite as needed.
To use in containers with more mature plants, go with one part coco coir, one part quality organic compost, two parts well draining potting soil, and as much perlite and/or vermiculite as needed, as well as any fertilizers or other amendments you might want to add.
I have been using both of these mixes for years in zone 6B/7A with great results. Although I recently switched from peat moss to coco coir and do not regret it one bit. Environmental impact aside, I think it is the superior growing medium between the two.
This was super helpful. Explained all my mistakes. Thanks gents
Very very helpful! This is always a problem for me, and now I know why after this video.
I do love growing vegetables. Thank for sharing tips to grow
Great video!! I’m currently doing some test runs on seedlings under lights trying to build some confidence for the coming season.
Same here. I've always been a direct sow person but this seedling thing is intriguing.
I have been experimenting with adding worm castings to my starter mix for tomatoes and cucumbers. I find as little as 4% makes a noticeable improvement. I have not observed any further improvement with concentrations above 10%.
I use small blocks of soil, peat blocks. It gives me more control and I see the roots start to poke out of them when they need to be planted into something bigger. I found this method a couple of years ago and I've had nothing but success with my seedlings since then.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. I'm new to planting food and still learning.
Love your garden it looks so good
Thank you. Usually I just buy starts cuz I suck at starting seeds. This year I did a bunch of seeds, some worked and some didn't. Jiffy peat pods had a near 100% germination rate for me tho. Very much recomend.
Thank you for sharing to help stunted trees, the video has helped me a lot,
Good information…Thanks you TWO!
Oh my gosh I needed this! Thank you Kevin :D
Thanks for the info. It will be really helpful the next time I start seedlings!
Wow I never thought I’d be so excited for the release of seed trays. 😁 also, I really love the 6 tray bc they’re so sturdy and reusable.
All the seedlings that grew from seed in our new garden beds became stunted. Also, they were looking yellow. Added fertiliser high in nitrogen and seems to have fixed the problem. Turns out the "top of the range" soil we bought wasn't so tops after all 😒Thanks for these tips
lol My seeds are in a shoe box. 😂I didn’t know they lasted that long. I’m learning. Great idea. I’m trying to be more organized. 😊
I have had problem's myself with Stunted seeding I well definitely remember your tips
Needed this. Thank u
I really needed this info, thank you 😊
I really like the special effects. That was a cool Flash effect.
Thank you, much needed, great advice.
I enjoy growing rosmary but stretchy though as it give me a good base trunk later in life to graft for a good bonsai! Yes I grow them for bonsai....
Thank you! That was very helpful 🙂
Rewatching older videos because it’s that time again! 🥳
Regarding supplemental light. I was just watching a video on a pro flower farmers YT and her lights were nowhere near her seedlings. I know that the super-close lighting is imperative to making stocky tomatoes but are there other exceptions? The reason I ask is because it’s such a pain to keep moving my lights and it may help to know that I can have a ‘tomato shelf’ and then an ‘everything else’ shelf where I can be lazy with my lights. Mama hates fighting her light system! 😂
Mine were stunted for several weeks. Finally, reburrying my tomatoes a little deeper helped. I used large yogurt containers and have decided the trick is to start low fill, and slowly fill with actual soil every week as it grows taller.
Thank you for the information
Very helpful! Thank you!
I just found your channel & I really dig all the minute details you include. I've been growing plants for decades but always go back & review basics when starting new seedlings, it promotes improvement every next time. One question: how do you keep chipmunks/rats/squirrel/mice etc from just knocking over the seed trays, digging out the seeds (and/or very early stage seedlings)? My seedlings tend to be a little more on the wet side than I think is good for them since we tend to cover them with glass bells/plastic ventilated lids.
I am having the same issues with the squirrels.
Amazon sell squirrel scarers...they have sensors on them and emit sounds which annoy squirrels
I have the six cell and the four cell and I love them
Thanks Eric!
That's almost what I do for starter mix, but I don't even buy potting mix. I will pick a spot in the garden to steal some established soil and mix that with ready compost and sift, the mulch your left with is perfect for covering the top soil after you transplant back into the garden! Nothing goes to waste!
i hate the concept of thinning. ..I just move them to a new place..I can't imagine cutting them down...I know that's common in gardening..but still. lol
Great tipping! Thank you!
Hello Felicia
This is very helpfu;l! Thanks
Awesome info. Thx.
Great advice! Thanks
Enjoyed watching your video!
I am so excited to get those 4 cells!
thank you - this video saved my tomatoe babies...i had 24 stunted plants... hubby and i started our seeds at the same time- shared seeds from baker creek ... shared grow lights... our trays were similiar.. we watered the same.. the only difference was he used those little pods you water and they expand... i used potting mix. his seeds just took off. mine got just past their true leaves and stopped.. so after 6 weeks i sat down and repotted all my tomatoe plants. and after a week they finally took off... i lost about 5 of them. but that is ok... i planted so many expecting to loose some.. so i still do not completely understand why his took off and mine stalled... other than something to do with my potting mix. which was just coco coir and some worm castings.
Thanks Kevin😊
Thanks for the helpful info🌱
I use photo box too .I also toss in a few moisture absorber from my daughter's sea weed snacks..so it's food safe too
This is my first time watching you. My grow tables are on wheels too!
FINALLY someone that also prefers fish emulsion fertilizer! It's done me good and is gentler than the blue stuff, so I like to use that. But, if I'm a little behind on the repotting and small cell issue, how often can I _foliar feed_ the seedlings? No one seems to think it's a viable thing to do, but I live in the frozen north and must start my seeds in the basement (only place to keep them safe from the cat) and due to the cooler temp, they just don't dry up nearly as fast. 3 days go by, soil is still pretty damp. I fear for root rot if I try and fertilize via bottom feed.
Great information needed.
Where do you move when weather get too cold such as night time? This is where I struggle
I use organic burpee seed starting mix which is mostly coco and perlite with a little nutrients. one thing about castings is if it's clumps up it'll get mushy
I mix my own seed starting mix too because I can't be arsed to buy something different haha. I just eyeball the mix, but basically I do something like 40% soil, 40% cocopeat, 10% perlite and 10-20% composted cow manure (yes, I know that at 20% it adds up to more than 100% lol, sometimes I just toss in some extra) I screen out the cocopeat beforehand so that the bigger fibres get filtered out, and the resulting mix is fine textured and lightweight but holds moisture pretty well
Thinning too.late is my problem. I over seed to make sure I get germination then end up with too much. Watercress this year is crazy.
Love thoss dragon fruit in the background I started some a few months ago. So fresh
Just when I needed this video…
In the town where I live in New Jersey, our house has no space with enough sun to grow vegetables, and it's all -- basically it's a rock garden that was built in 1930 with three ponds that are interconnected. There are actually five ponds, going from our house, which used to be a dentist's office, but which looks kind of like an English cottage, to the big house, where the dentist lived. It's a beautiful garden, but no room for veggies, and very little sun. Lots of mature trees. Weeping cedars, dogwoods, arbor vitae, split leaf Japanese maples, and on and on. Anyway, in our town we can rent a small garden plot. There are all these very small plots that the town kind of built, which lots of wasted space and not enough growing space. I planted asparagus plants a few years ago, and they didn't all make it, but we had some delicious asparagus this year. But we were late getting started this year, and my plot was very overgrown. And there are many strawberries in it, which I wanted to move to make room for beans, cowpeas, lima beans and tomatoes. So, we weed and weed and move 30 strawberries, we eat some asparagus, and then we start noticing baby asparagus plants all over the place. I started digging them out and potting them up. I must have at least 100, but many of them are tightly together. So I'm hoping that, rather than thinning them out, in the fall when they go dormant that we could take them out, wash the roots and untangle them. Do you think that might work?
myyy cabagesss!! looks like they did do well!
Thank you! I feel like I’ve been guilty of just about all of these mistakes! 😅
Did I hear you say you owned Botanical Interests? I Have ordered seeds from there and I love the seed packets. I like that you add all of the info about the seed on the package
First timer here. I'm trying to grow some bell peppers and salad bowl lettuce. A few of my pepper plants look to be doing better than the rest. My lettuce plants seem to be doing good also.
I started with the paper towel method and once my lettuce plants started to sprout I put them in cells (about 4 or 5 seeds per cell. Not sure if that's OK but so far they look like they are doing well.). I think I gotta break up my plants in their cell but not sure how to do that without damaging the plants. I'm really hoping I can care for them well enough to produce a good crop. It's exciting so far but I'm so scared they are gonna die.
As far as watering, I was under the impression that I shouldn't allow the soil to dry out completely so I have been watering when I see the top soil become light brown.
I definitely want some of the bigger trays. The 6 cell works great but they only allow so much growth.
I totally agree!
I have bought two cases of the six pack seed starters. I love them! I can already tell I will love the four packs as well. I have not received an email about an option to buy the four packs ahead of time. How do I make sure I get some before they sell out?