Re: Another seedling question: slow growth after transplant

Could be a bunch of reasons...some that come into mind are:
 - seedlings aren't hardened off and suffer shock they are slow to recover
from;
 - seedlings are planted into un amended soil and have a hard time getting
their roots out of the seedling mix into it;
 - seedlings are too tiny when set out into the garden;
 - weather is too hot when seedlings are set out - most plants won't put on
much growth during extremely hot weather;
 - soil is very poor ;
 - soil is compacted;
 - soil is otherwise not suitable for particular plant;
 - plants are naturally slow growers.  I haven't tried these two from seed,
so have no experience, probably others on this list do.

There are, no doubt, other reasons I haven't thought of.   I tend to keep
seedlings potted and pot on until they have achieved enough size to compete
in the garden border because I have found that setting out young plants
usually means I forget about them and some big neighbor swallows them. 
Another way to deal with seedlings is to transplant them from their seed
pots or flats into an extremely well prepared nursery bed that is near
enough to the house so you can monitor it and make sure it doesn't dry out
or get a plague of some beastie.  Let the plants grow on for at least a
season - especially many perennials who are slow to reach maturity - until
they have proven that they are thriving and will survive and then move them
to their permanent places in the border.

Annuals are much faster from seed because that's their nature - to grow
from seed to maturity in one season, set seed and die.  Perennials, OTOH,
are longer lived and many reproduce by offsets, expansion of the clump,
runners, stolens, rhizomes, tubers, corms or other means that do not depend
on seedlings for the genus survival.  This means that they are often very
slow to develop from seed, some taking a year to even break ground after
germination.

One of the best web sites going for information on growing plants from seed
is Tom Clothier's....URL is:  http://www.anet-chi.com/~manytimes/

Beyond the basics for beginning seed growers, he just keeps on adding pages
of marvelous information - it is a resource all of us web gardeners can
use.  He's much too modest to sing his own praises so it is my pleasure to
do it for him :-)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: Alaina Sloo (Brava Services) <a-asloo@corp.webtv.net>
> Date: Tuesday, February 09, 1999 2:48 PM
> 
> 
> My seedlings (germinated indoors) seem to be healthy, but when I finally
put
> them out in the garden, they sometimes don't show any signs of growth for
> months. Echinacea and Wallflowers didn't have any noticable growth until
6-9
> months later (after a full spring, summer, and fall in the garden). 
> 
> What am I doing wrong?
> 
> Thanks for the help. 
> 
> 
> Alaina Sloo
> Northern California (US Zone 9/Sunset Zone 15)
> 
> 
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