Problem with Seedling Droop ?

Hello all
this is my second season at growing flowers from seed - and I have had a fair amount of success and lots of enjoyment. The problem I have is some seedlings after germination start to droop and fallover after a couple of weeks. The pics show some Oxalis I planted on the 2nd of Feb.
I grow them on a kitchen windowsill, facing east - it gets lots of light and no sun at this time of year. I use an electric propogator when required and remove the propogators lids when the seeds germinate. I use seedling compost , vermiculite when advised and water and spray with Cheshunt compound - although to my inexperienced eye I cannot see signs of fungoidal growth (?), and the seedlings seem a bit tall and straggly.Is this normal seed dropout ?
Any advice or pointers to improve my succes rate would be welcome.

TIA

Smiffy

 

Hi Smiffy. It could be that they were planted a bit too early. The question comes up a lot, and I quote Christopher Lloyd who said he never sowed flower seeds till 1st March. The reason being that there is never any problem with the germination itself, but when the seedlings get lots of heat (the temperature inside a house is similar to May or June outside) and not enough light (the light levels in February are still very low, way below May or June levels) the seedlings grow leggy and fall over. They are actually trying to grow taller, to push their way through the overhead vegitation that they think is preventing them getting the light. And you thought they were just dumb seeds :D

What I would do, is pot them up individually sinking them much deeper in the compost, so they will stand upright. Ideally they should be in a sunny spot, where it is not too warm. Having said that you could try and leave them in the same spot. Sometimes seedlings put on a real growth spurt, using up the stored energy in the seed, but once that is used up they then grow much more slowly.

 

Hi Smiffy you shouldn't worry too much about the Oxalis the little blitter once started growing are very hard to kill off and once in their bulb/root form are murder to stop spreading everyway they want.

It's early days for them but even if they are a little bit tall and straggly come next year out in the garden they are going put on a right show for you.Hel.xxx.

 

Thanks PeterS and Helofadigger
The tip on light levels really explained the probable cause. I will delay my seed planting until late Feb early March , and I thought starting them early would give them a better chance ! I have moved my sickly ones onto a sunnier place and I will see how they perform.
Thanks again for the advice from you both. Have one on me !

 

I planted more Oxalis seeds from the same batch at the end of the month ( could not do early March due to holidays ). The pic shows the results of the plantings after 16 days , i.e early planting versus March planting. Thanks to PeterS and Helofadigger for the advice.

 

sorry for the huge picture - thought I had reduced it !!!

 

Smiffy just remember that you're sure where you want to plant those Oxalis as I'm still digging out some of mine after nearly two years of removing them from one place to another!Hel.xxx.

 

Thanks Hel' , they are only destined for my hanging baskets - so they are all destined for the green-bin at the end of the season.

 

Smiffy, i nearly put my 2 oar in here for the first time ever.

When i saw the photos i thought 'that's my sweet peas!'. I had the same problem and got exactly the same advice that has been given to you.

I think we all get a bit eager don't we :D When i get my greenhouse, heated of course, it will be easier (dreeeaam, dreeaam, dreeaam, dream)

cheers