I started some Bells of Ireland and although they are still growing really well they have fallen down and seem to laying down without efforts to stand back up. Is this signs of damping off? I don't think it is because they look extremely healthy and are actually putting out their first true leaves after they fell down. My dill is doing the same thing. Still looks healthy but is laying down instead of growing upright. It ia also putting out the first set of true leaves after it has fallen down. I am going to start some outside but knowing what is going could help if any of my other starts do it in the future.
Hi Fish,,,sorry i can't help with the Bells of Ireland, but the dill i am thinking here. This happened to me, and the problem was i didn't have enough dirt around them..when they sprouted, they didn't have enought dirt or down in the soil to help support them. And it happened after i watered them, walked away and came back and seen it. Push your stems down deep in the soil so the dill is upright. If it got new leaves on it,,then i would think it is still healthy. Do not water so often if indoors because they do not have the wind like outside to dry out the soil so fast. The dampening off part...i don't even know what that is...so maybe someone here can help you better than i.
biita, from what i understand, damping off is a disease that's from the soil or in the seed. here's some info... http://tomclothier.hort.net/page13.html fish, i agree with biita about planting the seedlings a bit deeper. if it were damping off, or if they were dying, you probably would see a part of their stems that were becoming thin in places, like drying out, maybe. hard to tell without a pics.
Dill Bells of Ireland Light could be a problem. It has been really overcast the last couple days. they are in a south facing window but don't get much "direct" light. More indirect because of an overhand over the sliding glass door. I will also have to let them dry out a little to see if that helps. It did happen soon after watering 3 days ago on the second overcast dark day. The new leaves of the Bells of Ireland are growing up somewhat but the main stem is still laying down. It is sunny today so we will see if they react more to the sunlight.
Can a slight drop in teperature cause them to droop? My house stays warm but in the past 3 days it has dropped to 62-63 at night instead of 68-70. Could this be a factor?
fish, i've had seedlings droop from too much cold and then perk right up when they were warmed. but, from your pics, see how the stems are so long, it just looks like not enough light.
But that is so much harder to fix.... :-| I expect it this time of year though. I should never count on the weather co operating here. Had record lows night before last and supposed to do it again tomorrow. I don't know about global warming but mother nature is ticked.
fish, one thought, you might want to take some toothpicks or sticks and put them up against the seedling stems to help them straighten up.
I also agree that they are needing more light. It looks like they are stretching to get closer to the wherever the light is coming from. It's definitely not damping off disease because they would either be dead or dying and you would notice a fungus growing on them. You might also want to put a small fan on a low setting to help strengthen their stems.
For the bells of ireland I wonder if I damaged that tap root when I removed the mesh around the peat/coco pot? I remember there being a small root but didn't know until today that it had a deep taproot. I guess I am gonna have to restart some of them and make sure I don't damage that root. Alaso need to find some deeper pots to put them in.
