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Vegetable Gardening garden

What am I doing wrong? All of my plants are dying!

4 years ago

I started growing a few vegetables (cucumber, snap peas, tomatoes, and sweet peppers) indoors. I let them grow for about a month and let them grow to be a few inches tall each. Earlier this week I transplanted them outside and they've started to die. Almost all of the tomatoes have shriveled up so small that I can barely see them against the ground and the same can be said of the cucumbers. The peas are the only ones still looking okay but the stem close to the ground on a few of them are starting to shrivel up so they can't stand on their own. What did I do wrong? Should I have let them get even bigger before moving them outside? Am I watering them too much or too little (I've watered them every day since moving them outside)? Or do I just not have a green thumb?

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Comments (5)

User
4 years ago
I will expose the seedlings to sun gradually, reads like you did not do that, maybe your seedlings were cooked by the sun. Poor things.
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Nicole (CO Z5b)
4 years ago
Did you harden them off, let them acclimate slowly to the outdoors? That may have been the problem. They need to slowly adjust to the outdoor conditions and sun. Also I don't know where you are located but daily watering seems like a lot.

Luckily there is still time to start some more seeds and try again or purchase transplants if necessary.
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The nursery told me herbs were easy and they preferred dryer soil so I water once a week but even so, ==>>> a newly transplanted plant .. of any kind.. needs enough water .. to settle in.. and get its roots pumping again ... before they will have any kind of drought tolerance ... and.. these are NOT plants the favor lack of water ... and your coir system does favor excessive drying ... if you were growing them indoors.. in a sunny window.. i might also tell you to make sure you dont overwater ... but out in the wind .. in that configuration ... i say .. water more .. i only had one plant over the years in coir ... and it seems to me.. i watered it once or twice a day ... until the water ran out the bottom ... and it still usually ended up drying to the detriment of the plant ... in other words ... what sonni said ... ken ps: what im thinking ... with no pot walls .. the wind is running thru the media ... and drying it from the sides and bottom ... thereby increasing drying ... as compared to a plastic pot with sides and a bottom ...
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nanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
It could be more than one thing. One thought is that those seedlings prefer different weather. The snap peas like it cool, so maybe your weather is right for peas, but too cool for tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

The trouble near the soil line sounds like damping off. I believe it's a fungal problem, and your conditions might favor it.
As Nom thanked nanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
Labradors
4 years ago
If you tell us where you live, we can figure out whether you burned or froze them to death! It's a learning experience, and you'll know better for next year. In the meantime, perhaps it's not to late to buy some seedlings to grow this year.
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lilyd74 (5b sw MI)
4 years ago
Pictures are also helpful for us in figuring out what might be occurring with your plants. Don't give up. Gardening is complex but also simple; if you are persistent you will get something to harvest each year, even if it is different. The most likely issue with what you described is "hardening off," which is not getting the plants used to the conditions outdoors before moving them.
As Nom thanked lilyd74 (5b sw MI)

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