Mark wrote:

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 17:22:55 +0100, "A.Malhotra"
wrote:

However, despite doing all the fiddly "pricking out" for the Nicotiana,
calendula and cerinthe that I did, the plants seem to have really weak
stems at the point at which they join the soil, giving really floppy
plants. Is this because I replanted them too close together? I replanted
them further apart than they had germianted, in deeper trays using JI no 2
mixed with the seed compost I germinated them in, as that's all I had
available, and not enough room to put all the seedlings in individual pots.

Thanks
Anita

The ones that were floppy at the soil - did they look like the stems
had narrowed at the base causing them to flop over?

If so I think it's called "damping off" due to overwatering them.

Mark S.

Well, they are narrower at the base....that's why they flop! But I think
they've always been that way. They have been in a potting shed which we
partially screened with a thin sheet because it was getting a lot of direct
sun and getting very hot. The compost still seemed to dry out very quickly
so although I was watering them regularly, I don't think the compost was
staying damp all the time.
Anita