In article , A.Malhotra
writes


Kay Easton wrote:

In article , A.Malhotra
writes


The butterfly weed
also bit the dust...although it germinated well, one day I found all the
seedlings had the tips nibbled off: no culprit in sight, and all other
seedlings untouched. Any ideas?

Sounds like slugs. They tend to go for something they like and leave
neighbouring pots untouched.

I've never seen any slugs in the potting shed so i doubt it. I was
wondering about woodlice? or wasps? Both of which I have seen plenty of in
the shed.

I've never seen damage to plants from wasps or woodlice, and slugs are
damned good at hiding up during the day. It only takes one! They find
their way in in soil, on pots, or they just walk in through the door.

Too little light? It always happens to me. They sort themselves out
eventually.

We had to shade the glass because the light seemed too strong. We used an
old thin sheet. I suppose that might have cut the light too much. But even
the cerinthe that I potted up individually and put outside have stayed
floppy.

In that case, just regard it as an unexplained curiosity. I'm forever
proking out floppy straggly seedlings and they always turn into sturdy
enough plants.


Did you really prick out the nicotianas? I can never muster the patience
to do anything than divide the mass into 1 inch squares and plant those
out.

Yes.....although patience was definitely wearing thin by then. Your way,
does one seedling eventually take over in each clump?

Somewhere between one and 3 .. still has the appearance of one plant.

How big are they when
you plant them out?

I don't use any slug control in my garden, so I don't plant them out
till they're about 6 inches high. I always lose some to slugs, and about
a week after planting out it all looks hopeless, but I always end up
with enough big flowering plants.



My california poppies are also a bit of a disaster. I planted them out
about a month ago, since when they appear to have shrunk if anything! They
are in dryish soil, in a part of the garden that is a suntrap when the sun
is on it but doesn't get sun the whole day. What's wrong with this?

That *sounds* OK. But I find they grow well on my wet clay, so maybe
they do need somewhere damper? I don't know.

Ah...I assumed that they'd like somewhere hot and dry being from
California. But if they like damp, they should be perking up after the last
week's rain....

I think they *might* be a meadow plant. Californian friend of mine
brought me over a packet of 'mixed wildflowers' which turned out to have
a high proportion of californian poppies. Picture on the front of the
packet was a flowery meadow.

Agreed, the grey leaves are usually a sun defence. But the plant is
quite floppy, but capable of growing to a foot high, which sounds more
like something in a reasonably lush meadow rather than something on a
well drained scree, for example.

I suppose I ought to go and look it up! ;-)
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm