Any idea what is happening to my swiss chard? This happens to my beets too, which I understand are related. The leaves basically just turn purple/red and die. I think these are lost, but I'm curious what I could do here next time. This time it's not my soil, these are still in seed starter mix. I've been keeping them outside, so maybe they are just super susceptible to some sort of fungus? The lettuce is doing just fine in the same tray.
by parolang
6 Comments
Is that straight coco they are growing in? First glance and it’s lack of fertilizer to my eye. Coco has no nutrients
I believe that once seedlings form their first true leaves is when they need nutrition. I suggest a water soluble fertilizer as it will allow faster uptake by the plant than if you were to use an organic one that still needs to break down before the plant can uptake it.
Mine also got darker, but they didn’t die, the first leaves are very green though. I planted them outside last weekend. It’s my first time growing chard so I don’t know if it’s supposed to be so, but my chards were just like yours.
Not enough nutrients in coco.
These are in a Coco + Compost + peat-based potting soil mix
and are about 4 weeks old, the extra nutrients in the soil make a huge difference:
https://preview.redd.it/crrstoquqvuc1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66d2fa87fb78644c44e12ab56fda533568ee5be8
Coco coir helps to retain moisture in your soil. It is also used in hydroponics, where balanced nutrient liquids are constantly run through the substrate. Coco coir by itself is not enough to sustain seedlings by itself; only to germinate them.
It is true, you should not highly fertilize seeds or seedlings. Start them in a seed starting mix, and then fertilize with 50% strength fertilizer for a couple of weeks or so after their first set of true leaves form, then move to 100% strength fertilizer once they get a bit more mature.
For fruiting plants, you want to change up the fertilizer to support the blossoming and fruiting time, after plenty of green growth has been established. This would not matter for leafy greens; it would matter for tomatoes, peppers, and other aerial fruiting plants. Good luck and happy gardening! 🙏🦋
Seed starting mix has no nutrients in it. It’s purpose is only to give the seed the least amount of resistance for sprouting.
What I do is fill bottom 3/4 of the cell with potting mix and the top 1/4 with seed mix. This gives the benefits of the seed mix but also feeds the plant once it sends down it’s roots.