Propagating blue Penstemon from seed

I have sown seed of blue Penstemon in seed trays and when the first 2 leaves appeared on the seedlings i separated them into individual pots, taking care not to damage the stems or roots. The pots were given a light watering and placed in the same consitions as the seed tray (garage with good light) however after several days of potting on all seedlings have "melted" and disappeared. What have i done wrong??

 

Hi, how unfortunate, sounds like a possible case of damping off disease, seedlings collapse and wither away for no apparent reason.....

It also sounds like you could have transplanted them a little too early, maybe you could have left them a bit longer until they were a bit stronger..???

Either way it's just bad luck, it's happened to us all, I've transplanted apparently strong and healthy seedlings in the past and then one by one they collapse and die within a matter of days, it can be heartbreaking at times, especially if its something that's hard to germinate..

If you've got some more seed have another go - wash your pots/trays with hot soapy water, rinse off and let them dry in the sun before sowing...:thumb:

 

I'd say Bilbo has got it spot on - pricking out just a little too early.

It's fiddly, but unless I'm planting something where I can afford to lose a few seedlings (say lettuce for example), I always use individual newspaper pots - you can get a couple of dozen in a seed tray - so that I don't need to transplant at all, just wait for the roots to poke through the bottom (and the sides) and then drop the whole thing into a bigger pot or put them straight into the ground with no root disturbance whatever.

Mind you, I did that this year, they got to about 2" and I lost a whole tray of seedlings overnight, and it was no comfort to know that the slug responsible died with a full stomach!

 

Seedling advice

Many thanks to those who replied to my plea for help. I think i shall start again and be more patient next time.

 

I have recently sown seed of Geranium 'Elke' and the advice i received from the seller was to sow the seed then place the seed tray in the fridge to chill the seed for up to 14 days. I have covered the tray with clingfilm and placed it in a plastic bag (not sealed). Have i done the right thing? There was no mention of watering the seed during this time so can i leave it that long?