HELP!!! I'm flunking!

Oh, ya'll, I'm flunking seed-starting 101!!!

I sowed my first seeds on Tuesday night and checked on em today for the first time. They were supposed to take 5-15 days to germinate. It'd only been 4 days and the seeds were up over an inch! They're Gomphrena seedlings and had been in a dark treatment (inside a black trashbag) for the past 4 days. They were in a very warm spot and they were evidently pretty wet.... you already know what I'm going to say don't you??? Ugh. There's a teeny bit of white cottony looking stuff at the base of nearly every seedling. Are they lost??? Can I save them???

I took the trashbag off a few minutes ago, and I've put a vented, clear, plastic lid on. I'll move them to bright, indirect light tomorrow. That is, if it's even worth it. I am going to be soooo BUMMED if these seedlings are lost. These are the plants I really, really want to have success with!!! Please help :(

Jacci

That sounds like little rootlets, not like damping off. From the little I can see in that picture, looks like they're more in need of light than anything else. Do you have a light, or are you using a sunny window? If the soil is still really wet, like soupy wet, I'd take the lid off for a bit, I was going to say overnight, but maybe for a while tomorrow instead so they don't get chilled during the night. Sometimes seeds sprout at the surface and their little roots seem to wander around on top, not sure if that's what I'm seeing, but if I think there's too much exposed root I sometimes poke the little sprout down into the soil a bit so it gets the right idea.

Hope that's helpful & not just more confusing!

I think you're doing fine with those seedlings. Nice job on the germination!

(edited for poor job of cut & paste)

This message was edited Mar 20, 2005 2:29 AM

hugahosta:

Another very good thing to do is increase the air circulation around the plants. A small fan will do the trick but be sure not to have it blowing directly on them. You don't want to bend them over with the air current. But the air will help with drying the soil a bit faster, and will also help with any fungal problems.

So light, and air circulation will help a lot.

DH got his fancy camera out, so here's a better pic. Are these roots or trouble??

BTW, took the lid off for just a bit. The mix is not at all soupy, but still pretty damp. I'll put the lid back on in a few minutes. I'm planning on using a bright, west window as my light source.

Thanks for helping me, guys :) I really wanna do this!

Hugs

It's looking like a rootlet to me. Try just sprinkling some fine seedstarting mix over the root and then watch it for a few days. And, of course, light and air circulation. Keep potting mix moist, but not wet.
That's my 2 cents worth and good luck to you!
Pixydish

yup, I think those are rootlets. not a bad idea to cover them with a little extra mix, as that will keep the tender bits from drying out.

looking good!!

The nice thing about seed starting 101 is that they let you repeat the class for a better grade! My seed starting is about 50% disaster every year, but I have a great time with it! Plants are very forgiving. Can you work seed starting into your home schooling program? That sounds like fun learning for the kids.

Hi Hugs!
Looks like rootlets to me too, most small seed kinda look like white spider webs when they first begin making roots. FYI damp off doesn't have any warning, just one day you find your little seedlings flopped over on the soil and they have kind of rotted off right at the surface of the dirt, sometimes the stem is dried up and shrunken at the dirt surface.

Good luck!

Well, I'm happy to report that I moved these guys to the table near the window this morning :) They have a clear, vented lid on them right now. I did add a bit of potting soil around the base of them and was very careful to not disturb them. Hopefully, that will help.

Questions: when do I thin out the seedlings? And when do I remove the clear lid altogether?

Thanks!!!
Hugs :)

If your clear lid has plenty of little air vents, I'd leave it on until the little leaves start pushing at the ceiling.

I haven't grown Gomphrenia before, it may not even be necessary to thin them, maybe somebody else will know. In general, I wait until seedlings have a couple of pairs of true leaves before thinning.... but I'm talking about thinning by snipping off the smaller or weaker looking seedling at the base of its stem to as not to disturb roots.... If you're going to try transplanting your thinned out seedlings, then I'd do it when the seedlings have just one pair of true leaves (second pair of "leaves" that appear are true leaves, first set are nurse leaves, aka cotyledons).

Good going!

Hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but I'll bet those are not rootlets.

Why? Cause I've had the same thing numerous times when rooting cuttings and starting seeds. I don't have the correct name but assume it's yet another fungus that will do in your seedlings if you leave the cover on and maintain the high humidity. Once it starts on cuttings, I usually always lose them although I spray with different mixtures of H202 or bleach.

As soon as I see it start in a seed tray and/or I have my first sprouts then I remove whatever cover I'm using and still shoot the downy white stuff with a little H202/water. The most recent cutting that succumbed was an experimental dormant clematis in Jan. The buds swelled and started to open and the white downies appeared about the same time. Right at the tip where the buds were opening and where the cutting met the soil. I kept spraying and washing the inside of the sodabottle dome for a couple of weeks but it kept coming back, I quit and the leafs shriveled.

I'm still a newbie, but I've had the same white stuff on most of my seedlings right when they first emerged. 3 weeks later, they look excellent and healthy, and the white fuzz is gone. I vote for the rootlets - because my stuff has been kept dry, with low humidity....(and I have to stay positive because I've had such good luck so far! :) )
Mara

good thing for me there is a wild margin of error. I have read on some forum - God knows which - about spraying the seedlings with grapefruit seed extract diluted to kill any fungus........does this work?