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plants burning but only in soil from outside?

I moved to a new place last year and have been gardening for about 3-4 seasons now

so last year I had plants that I was hardening off in the sun (in their little cups) and then when I put them into my garden a lot of them burnt from the sun. or at least that's what appeared to be happening. So I figured they hadn't been hardened off enough.BUT

this year I have seedlings started, and all the seedlings that are put into store bought soil are all doing fine..all seeds from the same batch, all being watered the same etc. The ones that I have put in the soil I took from the garden are all burning up from the sun, or at least that's what it looks like.

What's going on here??

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Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • johngreenjohngreen Posts: 58

    same problem but that post seemed to mislead people

  • bekkie hughesbekkie hughes Posts: 5,294
    Hi John image



    Have you had trouble growing anything else in the garden or is it just young plants? We sometimes had problems on the allotment sites over here when some bright spark in the past used parrafin to kill weeds! Have you done any tests on your soil to see if its especially acidic or alkaline? There must be a way around this, you might need to dilute your soil with some brought topsoil etc image
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,139

    John image  I'm getting confused by what is happening.  image

    From what I understand you are sowing seeds in two different batches of soil - some are in a proprietory store-bought compost and others are in soil that you've brought inside from your garden. 

    What varieties of seeds are you sowing and in which soil?

    Are the seedlings dying while they're still indoors, or after they've been hardened off and planted outside?

    If I'm correct in thinking that the seeds raised indoors in garden soil are dying off after transplanting outside, my thoughts are that the garden soil is too rich and the seedlings are growing too lush and soft and are consequently burning in the sun when planted outside, even when an attempt has been made to harden them off.  

    Proprietory seed compost is low in nutrients because this is what seedlings need - it's only later on as they grow that they need higher levels of nutrition. 

     

     


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286

    I think Dove reading both threads, nothing much grows in John's soil outside. 

    But things use to.

    It sounds to me like the opposite, the outside soil is spent and needs some heart put back into it.

    Is that right John, seedlings don't do well in the garden soil and nothing much grows in it now outside, but it use to be OK?

    Perhaps you could list for us what you have done with the soil and used it for in the past 3 years?

  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286

    PS though I could be confused too and your explanation makes perfect sense. image

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I've been confused from the start on this one.

    Maybe a photo of the damaged plants would help.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923

    if you have only just moved in last year could the previous owner/tenant used chemical weed suppressant (i'm thinking sodium chlorate or something similar) to keep the weeds down and the chemical is still in the soil??

  • johngreenjohngreen Posts: 58

    Okay the quote function on here doesn't work too great so I will just try and answer all the questions.

    1) bekkie- nothing grows good in that garden. I've never in my life seen cucumbers do so poorly. At the end of the season they were this short little vines, it was ridiculous!

    I did a soil test and it was pretty alkaline but below 8.0. all nutrients were low though, very low. NPK all low.

    2) Dove - I am planting seeds from the same packet, in two different soils -one from my garden and one from the store. The seedlings are dying while still inside (but only in the garden soil) last year i lost a lot of plants after transplant, but they were hardened off well like any other year i've ever transplanted.

    3) gemma - I just moved here last winter and this will be my second year using this garden, i have no clue what the previous tenants did to the garden but if it was anything close to what they did to this house, or this yard, then i am not surprised that nothing grows! They were basically animals.

    All I know is that Sometimes it looks just like they are being burned by the sun (can't get a picture because all of those plants have died now) a few of them burn enough that the leaves wither right up..but some are just a little bit burned and suddenly I just find them limp in the cup! like they've been shot lol.

    Sorry for posting twice and for being confusing..but I am confused as well! I have a ton of seeds and this is a big garden..I really want to come out swinging this spring since last season was a complete bust.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    it doesn't take much to confuse me Johnimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
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