Feeding seedlings?

I was looking at my seedlings this morning and some varieties seem to have stalled. Basically they don't seem to have grown much and seem "stuck" at a small size. Is this possible? Can seedlings just stop growing or grow very slowly?

Is there anything I can do to give these seedlings a boost? Should I be feeding them now for example? They were germinated in an electric propagator and then transplanted to small pots. The varieties causing me concern are Snapdragons and Achilleas. They're on a wide south facing window ledge which gets plenty of light and gets very warm in the sunshine.

Thanks.

 

Do you make your own compost? I'm going to mulch my seedlings with home made compost just to give them a bit of a boost their all in 9cm pots so I'm just going to put a bit on top of each pot

 

How do you make compost??

Val

 

My seedlings are just the same, stuck at small size, what they need is some warmth!!!!

Val

 

No I don't make my own compost Dan. I was wondering about feeding them with Baby Bio but really dilute it.

John I'm too nervous about taking them outside just now. They look really weedy with very thin stems. I think a slight gust of wind would snap them in half!!

It's not just me then..lol. I think we could all do with a bit more warmth.

Maybe it's a light issue. They were in a propagator in another room and went leggy and spindly - then I moved them after potting them up into small pots where there's better light.

 

I use Baby Bio on my seedlings , mainly because it is so easy to use by just shaking a few drops into my watering jug . Make sure the water is luke warm.
I have been reading up on Phostrogen ( see other thread in this section) and you can use it at 1/4 strength on seedlings . May be worth a try.

 

May depend what stage of growth they are at. Some produce seed leaves, and then lots of roots before the true leaves appear. Others may produce some true leaves, and then use the energy to concentrate on growing roots before growing more "top".

But pretty much all seedlings that I can think of have a "wait" after the seed leaves appear, before generating the first set of True leaves.

I feed all my seedlings once they are about 3 - 4 weeks old (i.e. from germination) with a very week liquid feed (1/4 strength), which I then use quite regularly (roughly weekly). Make sure it is well mixed - so some plants don't get water and others "concentrate" :(

 

I've put Baby Bio on the shopping list for this week Harry so I'll give it a whirl.

Kristen thanks for that info. My seedlings must be in that "wait" period as they don't have the first set of true leaves. I transplanted them into the bigger pots from the seed tray because they were so leggy.

 

If they are in decent compost, and not rootbound, wouldn't they still have plenty of nutrients in the compost to keep them going?

I am planning to give weak feeds once my seedlings have a few true leaves. I think one of the reasons I sometimes fail with seedlings is that I don't feed and move them on at the correct time, whether by potting on or planting out.

Leggy seedlings is almost sure to be a light issue.

 

The "shock" of that will probably have caused them to take-stock for a while too.

If they aren't at True Leaf stage yet, and appear to have stalled, I would say that was normal ... so long as they still look healthy.

Here's hoping that the fact that they got leggy doesn't mean they exhausted themselves and are now struggling to cope.

 

try getting a pot sticking outside when it next rains, then watering them with rainwater, it may give them a little extra nutrition to help them to get going without the need for risking over feeding.