Insanely slow seedling growth!

[royceag]

Hi All,

I started my hothouse tomato seed sowing very late this year- only 1 month ago. I was still dealing with the trauma of last year's growing season- nightmare heat, bugs, disease, etc- emotionally scarred me!

Here's the short backstory. I've always been an idiot savant regarding germination- growing is a very different story, but I can germinate most anything with little effort (usually freakishly fast, too). Last year my various seeds germinated in about 1-3 days, I was potting up around Day 21-24 and planting out my multi-leafed, robust, 10-14" tall 'seedlings' by Day 29-30. I didn't even fertilized before planting out- I always use soil-less mix for sowing.

This year, I bought all my seeds from the same source- Blue Ribbon Tomatoes. I proceeded as usually with my red plastic cups & soil-less mix and all 21 varieties did germinate with almost 100% success (albeit more slowly: 5-7 days). Since then the seedlings have just sort of languished for days-weeks. No damping off or disease but, almost no growth either. It's now Day 29 and my mostly 2-3" tall seedlings barely have their true leaves; 2 varieties haven't gotten any at all, yet. At this rate, they may be ready to plant out by next year! Yes, it's been damper & a bit cooler than last year but, the weather hasn't affected anything I direct sowed- probably even helped my zucchini & other squash. I've never seen anything like this and wonder what I can do to expedite the process. I would like to avoid a repeat of this next year so, any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks so much, Royce

[Gavriil]

I don't plant green or hot house seed but I've been having minor issues with my tomato and pepper
seeds direct sown not sprouting and growing quickly enough (both store bought and home grown seeds) and I believe it's been due to the cooler wetter weather we've had in my area this spring/early summer a lot of the tomato's seem to be peppers still lagging.
Maybe with the warmer weather forecast they'll all start kicking in soon.

[royceag]

Thanks for your input, Gavriil. Today I'm leaning towards blaming the soil-less mix because I don't think it's the seeds. Ugghh, I really don't know but, I may just pot them up into something else, even through they're not ready. I also guess I should resow- probably directly at this late date. I've never direct sowed tomatoes before so it'll be an interesting test.

[Master_Gardener]

I am experiencing the same slow growth you are. I am in central Indiana. I have a friend near Raleigh, NC and he has not had the same experience that you have.

This is an odd year for sure. I tried germinating Spearmint. Twice! No luck. My wife went to a farmers market and asked if they had Spearmint and they said that all their Spearmint died.

I tried some new cultural practices this year. I thought that my slow growth was due to something I had done, but my neighbor has a garden 15 feet from mine and is having the same slow growth problems also.

[royceag]

Russel,

It's just so odd! This is really messing with my idiot savant status- I'm tending towards straight idiot about now- eeekk.

Funny you mention mint- everyone always says to beware of the invasive nature. I'm the only person I know who habitually kills it when I try to grow it.- especially spearmint. I do seem to have broken my losing streak lately with peppermint but my spearmint is quite pitiful. I'm sure it doesn't help that I loathe all mint's taste & smell… But seriously, if a master gardener like yourself can't grow it, maybe it needs to re-classified as difficult & problematic!

I wish I had an answer to our collective garden woes- but no. I do think I will return to using Pro Mix soil-less mix as my germination medium- I stopped in lieu of a cheaper, more readily available brand. Bad move, I guess.

Well, crack open those slug beers and none of this will even matter!

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Master_Gardener

This is an odd year for sure. I tried germinating Spearmint. Twice! No luck. My wife went to a farmers market and asked if they had Spearmint and they said that all their Spearmint died.

The Spearmint I have in in-ground was planted many many years ago. Couldn't kill it if I tried, it seems to just move around to different areas around the edge of the house every year, I just dug some up a couple days ago because it was in the way where I wanted to try growing some tomatoes.
Mint from seed just happens when it's good and ready.
I had 2 pots of Lemon Balm that got left outside over winter. The in-ground plants came back in the spring no problem, the potted Lemon Balm looked like it got killed, no life. Then all of a sudden a zillion new seedlings popped up in those pots a few weeks ago.

[Master_Gardener]

Originally Posted by royceag

Russel,

It's just so odd! This is really messing with my idiot savant status- I'm tending towards straight idiot about now- eeekk.

Funny you mention mint- everyone always says to beware of the invasive nature. I'm the only person I know who habitually kills it when I try to grow it.- especially spearmint. I do seem to have broken my losing streak lately with peppermint but my spearmint is quite pitiful. I'm sure it doesn't help that I loathe all mint's taste & smell… But seriously, if a master gardener like yourself can't grow it, maybe it needs to re-classified as difficult & problematic!

I wish I had an answer to our collective garden woes- but no. I do think I will return to using Pro Mix soil-less mix as my germination medium- I stopped in lieu of a cheaper, more readily available brand. Bad move, I guess.

Well, crack open those slug beers and none of this will even matter!

My 'invasives' are in containers so they will likely stay where I put them... mostly. In my case, it may have been the seed viability. I have only recently started digging into long term seed storage. We can't control the environment from seed we purchase before the seed gets to us. I think it says something about the seed itself when you can't even get it to germinate.

[Master_Gardener]

I read a book by Richo Chec of Horizon Herbs. He had a germination batch that failed so he threw them in the compost pile. A month or so later, he was working nearby when he looked at the compost pile. There were all of his seeds... growing!

I had a batch of Marshmallow, Comfrey and even Echinacia that failed to germinate outside. I left them alone to see what they would do but kept them moist. It was about a month, but I now have seedlings. If I had waited the prescribed length of time I would have thrown them all out.

It may be my home made germination soil that may be at fault here. Although that does not explain why other seeds germinated just fine in the same environment in a relatively short time.

Everything seems to be slow growing this year, even weeds.

[efisakov]

Hello, Royce,
few years ago I had my tomatoes that germinated on time and looking healthy grew to about 2 inches and just stopped and did not change for a month. I was puling my hair trying to figure out what is going on. I took them all and dumped them out. Started new batch.
Later I learned that I had fungus gnats infestation. Gnats lay eggs in the soil, they grow into tiny larvae that feasts on the roots. Now I use diluted Hydrogen Peroxide to water my seedlings once a week (1 part Peroxide to 4 parts water).
Good luck to all.

[royceag]

Oh Ella, Thank you! I'll take that diagnosis & run with it. I certainly have at least 1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Wish me & my baby toms luck.

[Master_Gardener]

Originally Posted by royceag

Oh Ella, Thank you! I'll take that diagnosis & run with it. I certainly have at least 1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Wish me & my baby toms luck.

Would you report back to us in a couple weeks as to how your Tom's are doing?

Thanks,

Russel

[royceag]

You bet! I just drenched them with the hydrogen peroxide/water solution so fingers crossed. From a very cursory search, I found that the accepted treatment for fungus gnats is insecticide containing Imidacloprid such as Bayer Advanced Concentrate Fruit, Citrus and Vegetable Insect Control. I'm obviously wary of introducing an inorganic pesticide into my garden, especially for edibles. However, it is purely a soil treatment at the roots and does not affect the flowers/fruit. I wonder if this, even at a very diluted concentration would be too harsh for my stunted baby toms. Any thoughts?

I'm also still mulling over whether to direct sow some tomatoes or if that would be a waste of seeds at best. Thanks for all input!!

[efisakov]

Sorry, forgot to mention that nematodes and fungus gnats detoured by marigold roots (the simple variety) . They do not like the taste of it. In my garden they are a must companion plant. If to many of marigold germinate I compost them right there.

[Salsacharley]

I got a book by Jerry Baker about using grocery store items for gardening. He recommends using hydrogen peroxide for damping off. I had that problem and the hydrogen peroxide seem to have helped. It really fizzed up when it made contact with the stems and soil. I bet the bugs wouldn't like it any more than the fungi do.

[royceag]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Sorry, forgot to mention that nematodes and fungus gnats detoured by marigold roots (the simple variety) . They do not like the taste of it. In my garden they are a must companion plant. If to many of marigold germinate I compost them right there.

Oh, yes I know about marigolds and always plant them interspersed among the beds. As they resemble weeds, they grow very well for me. Also, it is best to establish them as early in the season as possible because it takes awhile for their roots to start giving off that beneficial chemical. Plus, they add a nice pop of color and bees like them. Yeah marigolds!

Salsacharley, I did know about hydrogen peroxide for damping off- also tea helps. But, as I stated above, I don't have any damping off- just no growth. I think I will try changing to soil and give some light fertilizer or I'm going to just plant them out and hope they don't die of shock.