Shoot is not growing, it's curling

[ganjamax]

Hi,

 

one of my shoots is curling over and not facing up, and it hasn't grown at all since yesterday unlike the other 2 that have germinated. it's my first time so i don't really know what to do. yesterday i thought the seed was too exposed because i didn't bury it deep enough, so i put a bit of soil on it to protect it, but not on the shoot. and nothing has changed since then.

 

any ideas?

 

thanks,

max

[Frazz]

hard to say without seeing the offending plant max, but sometimes fiddling too much with new born seeds can stop them advancing, nevertheless you sometimes have to very gently help the newborns along

also the new shoot from the seed must have enuf strength to throw off the seed coat and the skin-like shroud that encases the embryo seedling, so maybe yours wont stand up straight now cause that shroud is keeping the seedling bent over and prevents the plant from standing up and opening its 1st leaves?

 

[jimbojones5678]

the seedlings with a limp wrist nearly always die - but you could try a matchstick as a prop

 

Jimbo

[Frazz]

yea Jimbo the 'limp wrist' seedlings you mean when their stem kinda shriveles up collapses and they die quick, is that what you mean

cause i get that sometimes and ive never known why they did that?

 

[ganjamax]

Thanks for the replies fellas, I think it's still too small and delicate to be propped up by anything. When I covered the exposed seed with a bit of soil, the shoot had already been curled for a day or two, so I thought that would help it out. I've attached a pic, it's nice and green still, but doesn't seem to want to grow up. I don't think he/she will make it.

 

Would transferring it to a softer soil help?

Edited May 6, 2010 by ganjamax

[The Hash Nibbler]

Just see what happens, sometimes one slow on the take off will suprise you and go nuts, but if it don't happen soon it ain't going to happen. Best of luck. GH72

[louise]

yea Jimbo the 'limp wrist' seedlings you mean when their stem kinda shriveles up collapses and they die quick, is that what you mean

cause i get that sometimes and ive never known why they did that?

 

 

Post-emergent damping off. Can be caused by a variety of different seed and soil fungi including Rhizoctonia solani, Aphanomyces cochlioides, and species of Botrytis, Diplodia, Fusarium, Pythium, Cylindrocladium, Phytophthora, Alternaria and Phoma.

 

Most commonly found in the wet, cold and/or static environments. Often a problem in indoor environments and winter greenhouses due to low level ventilation.

 

 

 

To the OP, You seedling looks like it was planted very shallowly to me, the curl looks like the normal stuff that usually happens underground. The seedling will probably right itself, but personally, I'd go buy a small bag of seed raising mixture and get it out of that bucket of bog. If you don't have a small pot use a paper coffee cup or disposable plastic cup... whack some holes in the bottom and a round the lower edge for drainage and you seedling will be fine.

[jimbojones5678]

yea Jimbo the 'limp wrist' seedlings you mean when their stem kinda shriveles up collapses and they die quick, is that what you mean

cause i get that sometimes and ive never known why they did that?

 

yeah that's what I mean Frazz, I'm no scientist so I'm not sure what causes it but it sure can suck.

 

Jimbo

[ganjamax]

Thanks Lou Lou, will do!

 

[ganjamax]

I gently removed it this morning and put it into another pot with the healthy seedling, when I came home I was fearing the worst, and it's not going to make it. More curled up, less green.. definitely dying. 8(

 

I just hope the soil from the bad one doesn't infect the soil with the healthy seedling.

 

I wish I'd done a bit more prep work before I jumped into it, I've wasted so many seeds because I didn't (and still don't) really know what I'm doing.

 

All in all, my soil was just way too soggy, is there a way to drain it without upsetting the seedling? There are holes in the bottom but the whole thing is like a mass clump of soil, ie the water just seems to sit there.