Hi all-
I planted this seed, which was labelled Echium wildprettii. It's clearly an Echium, but having grown four different varieties, I have never seen cotyledons with splotching like this.
Has anyone else seen this? Might I have a different ssp, cv, or var? Or, some kind of fungus?
If I had to guess I'd say fungus. If it is the plant's coloration, I wouldn't pay much attention unless you see it on the true leaves too, then maybe you've got something new on your hands.
Well the first true leaves are clean, and the cotyledons have had the splotching since germination, so it seems unlikely to be a mutation. I have more of these seeds, so I'll try a new batch and see if they show the same coloration.
Thanks!
to me, it looks like the leaves simply have some 'dust' from the jiffy packs.
Do you spritz your sprouts? Maybe you've blown some dirt onto the leaves.
The cotyledons may have the dust on them, as they've been alive the longest.
The new leaves haven't been around as long as the cotyledons, and are therefore cleaner.
I dunno .......
They sprouts actually look healthy to me.
The coloration is not soil; it is in the leaf.
The seedling is healthy, and so far no change in the color of the true leaves.
The mystery continues.....
No help from here on what/why but I think it looks too healthy to be a fungus especially since the splotches have been there since germination. Keep us posted please on the next batch of seedlings.
First off those are beautiful seedlings -- nice and stocky.
It looks to me like the cotyledons have done their jobs and are disintegrating. I have a photo somewhere of it happening on geraniums....it will get worse, and as it gets worse, your 2nd set of true leaves will be coming out, and the time the third sets comes out those cotyledons should be history...but you won't be as worried about it because you'll have so much beautiful new growth.
If you look at the geraniums on the right. you can see the reddish leaves. That's what happens to geraniums as the cotyledons start to go by the wayside -- as it happens, I will get a second set of true leaves forming on my seedlings and they'll look like the one on the left which is 3 weeks older. Can you see the little 3/4 dead leaf in the lower center of the left hand plant, well under the bigger leaves?
Suzy
Suzy-
The only thing is that these cotyledons have had this coloration since they first sprouted. They show no signs of degradation yet, even though the second set of true leaves are pushing out. So far, still no brown markings in the true leaves.
Before I took Botany, I always worried when the first 'leaves' would die! Now it's fun to watch them waste away as they're being used up knowing that the plant isn't sick.
BTW, here's a pic of my other E. wildprettii from a different seed source. It does have a shriveling cotyledon, and no brown splotches in the cotyledons:
Ok, well, then I'm not sure what it is unless it's just a birthmark, but the seedlings are beautiful and I still don't think there is anything wrong with them.
Suzy
Not to worry..............Coty leaves often play little games with one's brains.
Aha- those fiendish devils.
So, you've seen this kind of thing before?
Have seen this and dozens of other mysterys in my coaching rounds with Giant Pumpkin Growers.
I figure if you have roughly half of the cotty's there is enough there to support the plant into using it's own roots.
Glad to know it's not a horrific fungus/disease : )
It certainly looks happy:
Update-
Another seedling from the same batch, and again the anomalous coloration.
(And please don't judge me for the algae! I don't know if that's going to kill the seedling, but I'm going to move it to a less moist area.)
Further update:
This is the second seedling-
It has ever so slight coloration in it, but three days later the splotches seem to be disappearing.
So strange.
My guess is perhaps this is edema. If this were fungal or bacterial, the plant would be dead by now. Virus is a possibility, but I doubt it. Sometimes the cotyledon is a little more tender and will tip out or die off and the rest of the plant is fine.
I don't think it's edema, since the cotys are smooth. Well, aside from the trichomes : )
I did find this page, which although referring to a study of Vicia faba, might explain this phenomenon in this batch of Echium seeds:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1439-0523.1999.00422.x
The cotys on the first seedling at the top of this thread only started to be depleted when the seedling was starting to push out its third set of true leaves. These are healthy, robust cotys!
I had computer trouble trying to find that article you referred to.....well, I would conclude that since the symptoms are only in the cotyledon (which feeds off of the energy and nutrients in the seed) as opposed to the true leaves (which feed off of newly formed roots and your soil), the problem is likely a nutrient deficiency or excess in the seed itself. Looks like all will turn out well anyway.
I'll say!
The same seedling today (and evidence that Echiums don't like having fish emulsion on their leaves : )
