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Zinnia Seedling Concerns

DamonMDamonM Posts: 3
in Problem solving

Hi all!  I am fairly new to growing plants from seed, however I had a great success rate with my Zinnias.  I planted them about 3 weeks ago and all but one came up - terrific!  The only problem is that now that they are getting more than two leaves they have started looking like little cups rather than the leaves spreading out they seem to be clustering together.  Also, the color has gone from lush green to pale green and I noticed some dead brown areas on the edge of one leaf on one of the plants today (pictured at top left).  

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I try to be sure they get as much sunlight as possible though the last three or four days have been more overcast and cool in the morning, but usually reaching into the mid 80's by afternoon with overnight lows in the high 60's.  I water them about every two or three days since they are in well drained starter pots.  Can someone let me know what (if anything) I'm doing wrong? 

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Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,516

    Well they've all germinated well and look robust. I'm wondering if the compost could be to blame for the yellowing leaves. Some composts do not perform as well as others and you can end up with sickly plants. Which one did you use? The browning on one of the leaves could be sun damage caused by a drop of water acting like a lens.

  • DamonMDamonM Posts: 3

    This is the mix I used. image

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,516

    I think your seeds would have been a lot happier in a seed compost. The amount of fertiliser in the Kellogg potting mix is designed to feed more mature plants and this is a bit like feeding steak to a baby. 

    I'm guessing you are in the US so I can't tell you what composts are available for seed sowing.

  • DamonMDamonM Posts: 3

    Thank you for that advice, next time around I will know better!  :)  Any tips for what to do now that I'm in this situation?

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