Why have my plants stopped growing?

15 years ago

I have about a hundred brussels sprout plants and a hundred or so cabbage plants. My mother has a similar number of broccoli and cauliflower. We planted them around Feb. 22 in Jiffy peat pellets or in egg crate flats with Miracle Gro potting mix. At first they grew rapidly, to be 3-4 inches tall and just then getting their first true leaves. At that point we potted them up with more Miracle Gro mix into drinking cups that had a hole punched in the bottom (16 oz plastic coated Dixie cups and 8 oz styrofoam cups). Then they stopped growing and I don't know why. Mine have gone on to finish developing their first set of true leaves. They're about dime sized. But they're still the same height they were when I potted them up two weeks ago.

My mother has had hers inside at a sunny window almost the entire time, putting them out only one or two days a week. Mine are outside nearly all the time, unless the temperature at night will get lower than 45 (which means they're inside only at night one or two nights a week). Mine are out on the back porch, which faces east and has an overhang so they are in the sun 2/3rds of the day. Initially they were more underneath, getting only 1/4 of the day of sun in the morning, but as time has passed I've moved them further out. My plants are generally shorter and thicker stemmed than hers, but not a whole lot. I credit the wind and sun for that.

My plants have recently developed an odd, purplish/yellowish tinge to the leaves on some of the plants. I thought maybe they were short on water so I watered more heavily but that didn't change it. (My mother's plants may or may not have this, I hadn't noticed. Her broccoli has had trouble with damping off, which none of my brussels sprouts or cabbage have had.)

We'd like to plant them out into the garden, but my father is reluctant because they aren't continuing to grow vigorously. My mother has been watering with Peter's fertilizer and SuperThrive. I used some once that she gave me and added a little SuperThrive to the last time I watered. Otherwise I've just been using water.

Why have our plants stopped or at least dramatically slowed down on the apparent growth? What can we do to jump start them?

Comments (5)

susandonb
15 years ago
I can only talk from my own experience, but mine did that last year and it was too much heat my ag agent told me. If the temps get too high they will shut down. Could also be pot bound. I would say put them in the ground and if you are due to get below freezing cover them to protect them.
gamebird
Original Author
15 years ago
Well, it hasn't been very hot here and I'm sure they're not potbound. Any other ideas?
Related Discussions
Why are my plants growing above ground?
Q
Comments (11)
Your broccoli and cauliflower are going to do that no matter what. Even the pony packs I buy at the nursery have a tad of "stretching." I've found that any brassica always does better as a transplant rather than direct sowing. If you can do transplants, plant about an inch below the level of the transplant -- that'll help them straighten out a bit. You may want to tie them up to a bamboo skewer or something(loosely) to prop them up until they get some legs. As far as your root veggies(I'm no expert) -- maybe your soil is compacting too quickly? You ask if that ONE hour is important. Well, kinda and kinda not. 6 is the MINIMUM -- most veggies would prefer 12. The more sun, the better - in most cases. But, some of the best broccoli and cauliflower I ever grew was in a spot that received less than 6 hours -- but, they were transplants and(I guess) other factors must have been optimal(fert., watering, weather, etc.) Good Luck. Kevin
...See More
Why my pups stopped growing
Q
Comments (3)
Give them time for getting over the shock of being cut off from the mama plant. Don't over water them now, I think your mix may be holding too much water unless you live in a desert where it dries out fast, less water is more for most San. but not all. They like low ligh generally if the have green tips, the ones with hard dry ties like even less water and more indirect sun. A few are jungle growers, some need a lot of water, so you need to know what your species are. The new babies, should always have two inches of rhizome, so just be careful of watering, put in the shade until they adjust and watch for new growth, they love the heat, but not direct sun. Go to Endangeredspecies there is a download of a free book which is fun, easy to read and has all the important facts, this was the first book printed in the US on Sansevieria, privately done by my friend. If you have additional questions just email me. Norma
...See More
Why are one of my tomato plants not growing?
Q
Comments (10)
Sorry, I forgot to post where I am which is zone 6. 1. Yes, I do see a lot of the lower leaves have soil build up on them. 2. Im not really sure why that part of the soil would be much different than the rest. I turned over and mixed that whole area a few weeks before planting. Should I try adding used coffee ground and/or egg shells around its base? 3. I had to start over after my first attempt. Something ate the plants when I planted them. Which is why there aren't as big as you would expect. 4.I know they would need a bigger pot to actually grow. I didn't give them much attention after I took the strong plants to put in the soil. Actually, didn't even expect them to grow at all with the way I left them in the pot. ( I actually have one growing in a pot with potting soil, that I believe is 5 gallon. That one was doing well. Now it is recovering from being over watered ) 5 The peppers wouldn't benefit from being spread out and put into soil, over only spreading them out in the pots? No, I am not using potting soil. Didn't know there was a difference and used garden soil. The only reason the tomato has potting soil, is because I planted it the pot from a fig tree I purchased. Thank you for the response
...See More
Why won't my starter plants grow?
Q
Comments (5)
I haven't heard of Sta-Green, but if I had to guess I'd suspect the soil being too wet, or too heavy. Look up 'damping off' and see if that matches what happened. I'm super fussy with the soil I used for seedlings. I only use "pro-mix," also sometimes called professional potting mix. A few brands make such a thing, and I use Sunshine brand. They make a few different variations, such as this one: http://www.planetnatural.com/product/sunshine-mix-1/ Once the seedlings are up and growing, I sprinkle Osmacote fertilizer pellets on top to give some nutrients. Hopefully you can get to the root of the problem and get some good plants going.
...See More
originalvermonter
15 years ago
I agree with susandonb, go ahead and plant them now and provide cover if needed. Where you live you actually have more than enough time to direct seed in the garden. I believe the soil has to be at least 60 degrees for the seeds to sprout. I've done this successfully every year. In my zone I direct seed because I like to have my cabbage family plants start to ripen in the early fall when the weather starts to cool off. The cooler the weather the sweeter and far less bitter brassicas are. These plants will survive frosts. Where I live they start to die when the harsh and cold winds or early winter blow. Another tip is to dust your cabbage family plants with Bt on a weekly basis or after it rains. That way you'll avoid cabbage loopers which look very disgusting on your dinner plate. Don't worry it's organic. You could probably plan a second planting of brassicas to ripen as it starts to get cooler. Just make sure the area where you plant them stays moist until they're well established. Good luck and enjoy!
digdirt2
15 years ago
From your description my best guess would be too much water and subsequent root rot and the purplish -yellow tinge would seem to confirm that. The purple is common with young seedlings that are too cold or too wet and the yellow is usually a sign of too wet.

1 hole in bottom of the plastic cup isn't usually enough. They are easily plugged with soil. I always put at least 5 holes in the cups - 1 in the center and 4 on the edges so that they cut into both the bottom and the lower side of the cup. That way you can be sure they can drain adequately.

Next best guess would be the potting soil - which MG? If it was MG Garden Soil then that is your problems as it isn't meant to be used in any sort of container and says so on the bag. It compacts and won't drain. Has killed many a seedling according to posts by others.

Last thought would be that your plants got so tall - not a good sign - because they were starved for light right after germination. That is why most of us use fluorescent lights - widow light just can't cut it this time of year.

When you transplanted them did you plant them deeply to just below the leaves, burying the too long stem? A long lanky stem doesn't have as good a circulatory system so difficulty supplying nutrients.

Does any of this sound like a possibility?

Dave

PS: also what and how much have you fed them?
gamebird
Original Author
15 years ago
I haven't fed them anything but the one does of Peter's and SuperThrive. The MG is not garden soil, it's potting mix. I'll go back through and poke more holes in the bottom of the cups.

When I potted them up, I buried most of the stem, so they were about an inch above the soil level.

Why have my plants stopped growing?

Comments (5)

susandonb

gamebird
Original Author

Related Discussions

originalvermonter

digdirt2

gamebird
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Why have my plants stopped growing?

Comments (5)

susandonb

gamebirdOriginal Author

Related Discussions

originalvermonter

digdirt2

gamebirdOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

gamebird
Original Author

gamebird
Original Author