Don’t give up. I personally have had seedlings not germinate, germinate and then die, or germinate and get very leggy. I have also had great success with seedlings germinating then, after I transplant them into the garden, the harvest was very small to almost nothing.
Keeping seeds from one year to the next is something I take great pride in. The reason for this is I can replant seeds that may not have met what my expectations were. I also like to share with gardeners some of my favorite seeds.
When storing my seeds, I used to take the seeds out of the package and put them into small pill bottles. I would also cut the label off to keep important information as well.
After a few years, I found my seeds were getting damaged from being shaken around in the bottle. Now I keep the seeds in the package while still storing them in the pill bottle. The other great thing about using the pill bottle is I can pour some seeds into the lid from the bottle and pick them up with tweezers to put into the soil.
Soil mix is another reason why seedlings die or do not germinate. Buying fresh seed starting soil is a must! Keeping soil from one year to the next may cause the soil and fertilizer or compost to break down and die. Soil is an organism itself; this should be treated just like your seeds.
Watering your seedlings is probably the biggest killer of seedlings. Too much water and the seedling roots will rot and drown. Not enough water, and the seedlings will wilt and die. I personally have used the finger method. Take your pinky finger and push it into the soil halfway into the container — if the tip of your finger is wet, your plants have enough water.
This year I have purchased a moisture meter. Putting the meter into the soil can tell me how much moisture is in the soil. I decided to purchase this because when I plant my seedlings outside, I can monitor the plants more closely since different plants require different amounts of water. Remember, when you water your seedlings, always water from the bottom. This is where the roots are, and it keeps fungus and fungus gnats off the soil.
Lighting is needed for photosynthesis. Most seedlings need 5,000 Kelvins and 2,500 Lumens to grow. These numbers can be found on the packaging of the bulbs. If the seedlings have inadequate lighting, the plants will become leggy and will not produce; or they may even die.
Starting seeds too early may be a cause of the seedlings not producing high yields. Most fruits and vegetables need to be started between 6-8 weeks before the last frost date. This can be found on the Farmer’s Almanac website. If the seedlings are started too early, they become root-bound. This places a lot of stress on the seedlings when transplanted into the garden.
Starting in larger containers is an option, but the downside would be how to transport the containers from inside to outside each day when hardening off the plants.
Having a small oscillating fan is also something to introduce to the seedlings. This will help keep the top layer of soil dry, and the air movement will also strengthen the stems helping them grow straight and tall.
This week, the advice I can give to you is to purchase a calendar. Having a calendar will let you mark down when you planted your seeds, when you start to see the seeds germinate, when you watered last, and fertilized.
