kidfishing said:Barbalee, you will most likely be just fine with that plan. Having made lots of crosses and knowing other who do also, the genetics in your seedlings makes a difference in survival and performance. The genetic make up of your plants and your growing zone make the difference.

Valerie,
the seedling you mention is seedling 12-205 x
Seedling 12-450 (This one I moved in 2015 and did not see it bloom this year. I will have to see if I can find it.)

Wow, love it!

Kidfishing! That makes me feel more confident with these struggling things in my dining room!

Besides losing 17 seedlings yesterday to White Cockatoos, I am doing sort of okay with my present batch.

However, I have been having a problem with seedlings getting to 6-7 inches in height looking quite healthy and then just falling over with the crown no longer attached to the roots.
They can look fine and healthy and then they just separate from the soil. Is this fungus? Is the crown too high up in the soil and they are blowing back and forth in the wind breaking them off? Is it worth trying to replant them?
Any advice will be much appreciated.

Glen, are they planted in the ground or in containers? They look a little big for damping off disease. Are you able to cut one in half longitudinally and check the damaged area with a magnifying lens? It looks similar to what seedcorn maggots do to daylily, so in case its a pest like that look for anything that moves. Or any sign of fungus. If you can get a sharp close-up pic of a cut area to post here it may help.

http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_d...

Sue, these are planted in an elevated garden bed. I have two recent ones I can cut. It is night here now but I will section them tomorrow morning and post.

Thanks, Glen. I want to see!

I have very few seedlings this summer. I plant them outdoors in pots and animals kept dumping my pots over. I can't tell you how many times I had to put the dirt back in the pots. As a result, not many germinated. I will be lucky if I have 12 plants. This was the first summer that I had this problem and I was told it could be chipmunks. I have never had chipmunks before but I did spot one in my yard this past spring. Coincidence about my seed pots??? Maybe or maybe not.

I had chipmunks eat my tomatoes this year. They have never done that before. I thought they might be looking for moisture.

Sue, this one fell over this morning. I sliced it in half then teased off the leaves which are tight together. Lots of those white things were under the outer leaves base.

You can see something with legs here but these might be shell casings.

I wish I had a microscope to look for earlier stages if any. What do you think?

They do look to have rotted for some reason. Did you check out the roots? The tops of those look like they could be rotted too. The only sign of a pest that I could see was what look like shed aphid skins and it doesn't look like something aphids would do. Yes, I too would like to get them under a microscope. A good 10X magnifying hand lens is the next best thing and a lot less expensive.

Is there a pattern to the problem? That is, did it start in one place and spread out from there or are the affected ones scattered throughout the bed? Does media in the elevated bed get very hot, and does the moisture level fluctuate?

Sue, when I think about it, the problem is very much a problem of the elevated bed. It is 4X15 and 3 feet high so I don't have to bend over much. It is partially shaded at midday and can catch strong sea breezes. It is watered by sprinkler during dry periods.

I will see if I can get a 10X lens. I have regretted many times selling my dissecting microscope when I retired. I will examine the top of the roots when the next topple happens - which looks not far off.

So far, this has happened to six out of 81 large seedlings in the bed.

Oh my! That is not good. I am curious to what is causing the loss of your seedlings, Glen. I hope you can figure it out and stop any further seedlings from dying.

8 (so far ) of my August2015 seedlings are sending up scapes as we speak... !

a couple are slim, but others are big and strong









Seems that spending the Winter in my garage is paying off
Now hoping the flowers will be stunning too


Mayo

Congratulations, this is exciting! What are the crosses?

touchofsky said:Congratulations, this is exciting! What are the crosses?

Awesome, Mayo! Tell us more!

wow the seedlings look so healthy and vigorous! Yes please tell us more!

Wow, that is so wonderful, Mayo! You must very excited!

Those seedling look very happy, Mayo. If by 'slim' you are referring to the scapes, I had some seedlings start out with some very slim scapes which didn't look very promising to me at the start, but they ended up quite strong.

to tell you the truth, I doubted they would make it at all, after they were almost destroyed by a gnat and aphids infestation last Winter... (I had them overwinter in a growtent in my garage)

But clearly it did give them a boost, to be mature enough to flower after only 1 year

The crosses are from seeds I bought on the LA, from our own Hemlady (Cynthia) and from Christy (Bonfire on the LA)

MINSTREL'S FIRE x REAP THE WHIRLWIND
VENUS FLYTRAP x SOMEWHAT AWESOME
WOLVERINE x DRAGON FANG
WOLVERINE x SABER TOOTH TIGER

BEST OF FRIENDS x VAMPIRE LESTAT (this one already flowered )


GALAXY EXPLOSION x SUZY CREAM CHEESE
JESTER'S COLLAR x STARGATE PORTAL
WHOLEBUNCHALOTTA x ZIP BOOM BAH


Mayo

Those look so healthy and lush! Wow! You'd never know they were only 1 year old. Way to go, Mayo!