Example, sunflowers. I've got a couple of those 24-segment propogation
trays, each segment has a newly-sprouted sunflower coming up. (I planted
some others a few weeks ago but they all snapped in half).. so they need
support.

I've cut lengths of green plant sticks and stuck one in each segment, made a
kind of "noose" with the green garden wire and looped one end around the
shoot just below the two leaves, and the other around the stick but it's
incredibly fiddly and I'm not sure they're going to last.

Are there any ready-made/easier solutions for holding shoots up until
they're big enough to transplant? And are sunflowers *ever* strong enough to
hold themselves up or will I need to use longer sticks as they grow? Some of
these are going to be 1 metre, others taller.

Many thanks.

If you're having problems, it sounds as if the plants are having too much water and food and not enough light, so they're growing long and thin in an effort to reach better light.

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
newsij%n.240897$NW.4394@hurricane...
Example, sunflowers. I've got a couple of those 24-segment propogation
trays, each segment has a newly-sprouted sunflower coming up. (I planted
some others a few weeks ago but they all snapped in half).. so they need
support.

I've cut lengths of green plant sticks and stuck one in each segment, made
a kind of "noose" with the green garden wire and looped one end around the
shoot just below the two leaves, and the other around the stick but it's
incredibly fiddly and I'm not sure they're going to last.

Are there any ready-made/easier solutions for holding shoots up until
they're big enough to transplant? And are sunflowers *ever* strong enough
to hold themselves up or will I need to use longer sticks as they grow?
Some of these are going to be 1 metre, others taller.


Perhaps you should be planting the individual seeds in larger pots - they
are quite large and propogation trays may not be the best place to start
them.

If they are in individual pots then supporting them with sticks is also much
easier.

However, as Kay says they shouldn't really be snapping off.
They manage to grow outdoors without this happening.
Have you considered planting some directly into the ground?
Or are they all destined for pots?

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

"Jake" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:39:44 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:


"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
newsij%n.240897$NW.4394@hurricane...
Example, sunflowers. I've got a couple of those 24-segment propogation
trays, each segment has a newly-sprouted sunflower coming up. (I planted
some others a few weeks ago but they all snapped in half).. so they need
support.

I've cut lengths of green plant sticks and stuck one in each segment,
made
a kind of "noose" with the green garden wire and looped one end around
the
shoot just below the two leaves, and the other around the stick but it's
incredibly fiddly and I'm not sure they're going to last.

Are there any ready-made/easier solutions for holding shoots up until
they're big enough to transplant? And are sunflowers *ever* strong
enough
to hold themselves up or will I need to use longer sticks as they grow?
Some of these are going to be 1 metre, others taller.


Perhaps you should be planting the individual seeds in larger pots - they
are quite large and propogation trays may not be the best place to start
them.

If they are in individual pots then supporting them with sticks is also
much
easier.

However, as Kay says they shouldn't really be snapping off.
They manage to grow outdoors without this happening.
Have you considered planting some directly into the ground?
Or are they all destined for pots?

Cheers

Dave R

I start sunflowers off in 3 inch pots. Their roots develop very
quickly and they'll soon become rootbound in those little cell trays.

But I'm picking up your reference to "the two leaves". The first two
leaves that form are called a "seed leaf" (or "cotyledon" for the
technically minded). They're not true leaves but serve a purpose in
the initial feeding of the seedling. They'll be quite llight and their
weight isn't going to damage a healthy seedling.

If the plants are keeling over at this stage, I'd guess that you've
got a touch of "damping off" disease - a fungus that can kill off
young seedlings which just keel over. Not exactly "snapping" as you
describe but the same effect. Type "damping off" into your browser's
search box and you should call up a number of web articles on that.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

I'm confident it's not a lack of sunlight because the first ones (and
current) were in direct sun from about 11am to sunset. But they were the
"bring them home from school in a pot of dirt" type thing, so possibly they
were from a bag of hamster food and/or the compost not great. Don't know if
it's the damping-off disease, I've got some "stock" and sweetpea that seem
to have done very well from seeds under the same circumstances.

I bought some "proper" mixed sunflower seeds and some seedling compost, so
far have got 23 out of 24 (8 each of 4 different types) growing well, if the
sun ever comes back I'm hopeful for better results! They all look
thicker/stronger than the first batch already, so fingers crossed!

They're all between 1-2 inches so far, should I start putting them into
larger containers yet and is there a good technique for picking up the whole
segment of compost/root in one go without damaging the plant or the root? I
might just cut the trays open if there's no better way to do it without
disturbing things too much.

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
newsqK%n.118548$U%7.57889@hurricane...

"Jake" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:39:44 +0100, "David WE Roberts"
wrote:


"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
newsij%n.240897$NW.4394@hurricane...
Example, sunflowers. I've got a couple of those 24-segment propogation
trays, each segment has a newly-sprouted sunflower coming up. (I
planted
some others a few weeks ago but they all snapped in half).. so they
need
support.

I've cut lengths of green plant sticks and stuck one in each segment,
made
a kind of "noose" with the green garden wire and looped one end around
the
shoot just below the two leaves, and the other around the stick but
it's
incredibly fiddly and I'm not sure they're going to last.

Are there any ready-made/easier solutions for holding shoots up until
they're big enough to transplant? And are sunflowers *ever* strong
enough
to hold themselves up or will I need to use longer sticks as they grow?
Some of these are going to be 1 metre, others taller.


Perhaps you should be planting the individual seeds in larger pots - they
are quite large and propogation trays may not be the best place to start
them.

If they are in individual pots then supporting them with sticks is also
much
easier.

However, as Kay says they shouldn't really be snapping off.
They manage to grow outdoors without this happening.
Have you considered planting some directly into the ground?
Or are they all destined for pots?

Cheers

Dave R

I start sunflowers off in 3 inch pots. Their roots develop very
quickly and they'll soon become rootbound in those little cell trays.

But I'm picking up your reference to "the two leaves". The first two
leaves that form are called a "seed leaf" (or "cotyledon" for the
technically minded). They're not true leaves but serve a purpose in
the initial feeding of the seedling. They'll be quite llight and their
weight isn't going to damage a healthy seedling.

If the plants are keeling over at this stage, I'd guess that you've
got a touch of "damping off" disease - a fungus that can kill off
young seedlings which just keel over. Not exactly "snapping" as you
describe but the same effect. Type "damping off" into your browser's
search box and you should call up a number of web articles on that.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

I'm confident it's not a lack of sunlight because the first ones (and
current) were in direct sun from about 11am to sunset. But they were the
"bring them home from school in a pot of dirt" type thing, so possibly
they were from a bag of hamster food and/or the compost not great. Don't
know if it's the damping-off disease, I've got some "stock" and sweetpea
that seem to have done very well from seeds under the same circumstances.

I bought some "proper" mixed sunflower seeds and some seedling compost, so
far have got 23 out of 24 (8 each of 4 different types) growing well, if
the sun ever comes back I'm hopeful for better results! They all look
thicker/stronger than the first batch already, so fingers crossed!

They're all between 1-2 inches so far, should I start putting them into
larger containers yet and is there a good technique for picking up the
whole segment of compost/root in one go without damaging the plant or the
root? I might just cut the trays open if there's no better way to do it
without disturbing things too much.

We always sow the seeds in the cardboard tubes from toilet rolls. Then plant
the whole deal out when the roots reach the bottom.

Steve

I usually repot when the root system is good enough to hold most of the compost together. Squeeze the container while tipping it and jiggling it a bit, and the whole rootball should slide neatly out on to your hand. Use your other hand to put some soil into the base of the new pot (ideally do this before taking the plant out of the old pot, but thinking ahead isn't my strong point), place the rootball on it, fill with soil and firm down.

"Mentalguy2k8" wrote in message
newsqK%n.118548$U%7.57889@hurricane...

snip
Thanks to everyone for your help.

I'm confident it's not a lack of sunlight because the first ones (and
current) were in direct sun from about 11am to sunset. But they were the
"bring them home from school in a pot of dirt" type thing, so possibly
they were from a bag of hamster food and/or the compost not great. Don't
know if it's the damping-off disease, I've got some "stock" and sweetpea
that seem to have done very well from seeds under the same circumstances.
snip

Just to check - are these indoors or outside?
If they are outside that sounds plenty of sun.
If they are indoors then they almost certainly won't be getting enough light
and should really go outside as soon as possible, especially this late in
the year.
Most plants grown from seeds indoors (and which are not house plants) get
very leggy unless they are in a conservatory.

HTH

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder