Troubleshooting - seedlings and plants – Part I

Awhile ago, I posted a blog about problems which may arise when raising plants from seed.  In this post, I’m going to discuss common problems with seedlings and plants, including disease, damage, death and failure to crop.  I know this makes for a rather depressing read but by understanding what went wrong, hopefully you might be able to avoid making the same mistakes in future. I’ve had my own share of failures in the garden over the years. These things happen.  It doesn’t necessarily make you a bad gardener, so don’t give up!

There is a lot of ground to cover, so in this post I will focus on death.

Death

•          This may occur when things are planted at the wrong time of the year, mostly when it’s still too cold.  Planting summer veggies too early is a common mistake many novice gardeners (including myself in the early days) make, especially when they see stock arriving in garden centres as early as August, which is pretty exciting after a dismal winter.  Remember, timing is everything, especially when it comes to heat-loving plants such as zucchini, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, beans (except broad beans) and peppers.  It’s best to wait until Labour Weekend at the very earliest before you start planting these veggies outside
•          Some plants such as tamarillos and vireyas are frost sensitive and the cold will kill them, depending on where you live.  However, it may be possible to prevent them from dying by providing adequate protection.  This winter, I used Vaporgard’s spray on liquid frost cloth on our tamarillos, which I obtained from Wally’s online store.  Not only did I manage to get them through winter, but they also grew lots even in the coolest months!  This spray would also be suitable for vireyas, but I don’t need to use it on them as they’re in pots.  The temperature in containers is always a bit warmer than the ground
•          Sometimes plants die because they resent being transplanted. To minimise transplant shock, soak plants in some Yates Thrive Natural Fish and Seaweed liquid fertiliser prior to planting.  It pays to do some research beforehand.  For some plants, it might be better to sow direct rather than transplanting later.  I’ve personally found that sunflowers and zinnias really hate being transplanted, so I always sow them direct when outdoor temperatures are warmer.  I’ve also found peas grow much better if sown direct.
•          Plants can become shocked and later die if exposed to a dramatic difference in temperature all of a sudden.  For this reason, it’s a good idea to gradually harden off any seedlings that were raised undercover by exposing them to outdoor temperatures for a few hours every day.  Build up to leaving them outside overnight for awhile before planting them into the garden.  Of course, you can’t control a sudden change in temperature (like now) once plants are in the garden.  You can hold off planting for awhile until temperatures increase overall, but eventually you have to call it time and put them in the ground otherwise they won’t have enough time to grow, mature and crop successfully.  At this point, all you can really do is hope for the best!
•          There are some plants that hate fertiliser.  If you apply any at all (even compost), it might kill them!  I don’t know of many plants like this, but one example in our garden is the protea 
•          Too little or too much water can cause plants to die. 
•          Plants may die if they are grown in a climate that is ill-suited to them
•          The wrong soil conditions can also cause plants to die.  I’ve never had luck growing blueberries in the ground as they prefer acidic soil, whereas ours tends to be more on the alkaline side.  I got around this by growing them in large containers using Tui Pot Power mixture, which contains peat
•          Disease can cause plants to die.  I will cover some common diseases in Part II of this series of posts

​Today’s photo is of our two containers of Endive “Escarole” from Franchi Seeds.  This is the first time that I have grown endive but I have eaten it when I lived in France.  The lovely owner of Italian Seeds Pronto, Gillian Hurley-Gordon, included a free packet when I placed my last seed order.  Admittedly it is bitter, but it’s very good for you!  We have been adding it to salads with other leafy greens such as rocket, mesclun and cut-and-come again lettuce.