How to keep your seedlings healthy once they start to grow
Keeping your seedlings healthy once they start to grow
DIFFERENT varieties of seeds have different germination times, though the average is two-four weeks. Check the instructions on the packets and keep a close eye on your seed trays.
Once seedlings start to shoot, remove the tray lid or open the plastic bag around the pot. This lets fresh air get to the young plants, which boosts ventilation and helps prevent them succumbing to fungal diseases such as damping off.
This is a complaint caused by soilborne fungi that causes the seedlings to collapse and rot, and they may also be lost among a mass of pale fungal growth.
Damping off is most commonly found on seeds that are sown early indoors, where there is little light and heat and seedlings grow more slowly. It is also more prevalent where there is poor ventilation around the plants (if they are sown too closely together) or the surrounding atmosphere is damp.
Keep seedlings away from the frying effects of hot direct sunlight and don’t let the compost dry out. Watering from the base using fresh tap water reduces the risk of fungal disease.
When the healthy seedlings are large enough to handle, they can be pricked out and potted on into larger individual pots. Carefully lift the roots from the compost using a dibber or the end of a plant label, and hold the leaves, not the stem, for support.
Transplant them into pots of multipurpose or John Innes No1 compost, then grow them on and harden them off before planting them out in their final growing position.