In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

The one(s) that attack germinating seeds are extremely annoying, and
what I have learnt by trial and error still doesn't enable me to get
a decent emergence rate for the umbelliferae (e.g. carrots and parsley)
out of doors - and they don't transplant well :-(

Have you got something funny in the soil then?

I assume so. The problem seems to be that my light loam dries out
very easily so, unless I keep an eye on it hour-by-hour and predict
the weather accurately, alternates between wet and dry. Established
plants can handle it - very young seedlings often can't. I know that
I have carrot fly, white rot, both kinds of eelworm, keeled slugs,
and some unidentified fungus imperfectus that hits woody plants
(especially magnolia), but none of that's all that unusual. There
are doubtless others, but soil microorganisms are one of the main
reasons that locations vary in what grows well.

Using netting to break the wind helps, somewhat. I am reluctant to
use one-time fleece, and covering seedlings with something impervious
is back to the watching continually to decide when to remove it.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.