Lupin seedlings wilting

Dirty Harry

Any idea how to stop this? In the majority of cases fresh growth is still appearing but slightly older leaves keep withering away.

Pete.8

Have you fed them?
I have 9 that a are a bit bigger than yours and they were doing the same, then I realized they'd been in pots in the cold frame for a couple of months and just surviving on the occasional watering and no feed. They perked up since giving a miracle grow (or any gen. purpose) feed

Dirty Harry

No I've not, will give them some and see if that helps.

Posy

Keep them as cool as you can, too. Lupins love sun but not when they are that tiny.

Lyn

Young plants that small won’t cope with feeding.  Feeding struggling plants isn’t a good idea really.

 Did you pot them on gradually or put them in the bigger pots straight away? 

JennyJ

An alternative thought - the older leaves of lupins tend to die down around this time of year, after they've finished flowering (mine do anyway). Maybe they're just doing the same.

Dirty Harry

Lyn said:

Young plants that small won’t cope with feeding.  Feeding struggling plants isn’t a good idea really.

 Did you pot them on gradually or put them in the bigger pots straight away? 

I sowed them in smaller individual modules then potted them into these after the true leaves were out.

Lyn

 Next time I would use a smaller pot,   They could have lived in those modules for a bit longer, until the roots filled the module.
You could try sowing some in September /October time, when it’s cooler.
Do you have a greenhouse or conservatory where you can over winter them.

Dirty Harry

The roots were quite dense in the bottom of the modules though - being a tap root the compost higher up doesn't really get filled.

I have a plastic growhouse which I've been keeping them in, not in full sun.

Will sow more in the autumn as insurance though.