What am I doing wrong with my morning glory seedlings? - Ask Extension
Hi friends- can you please guide me on how much water to give my morning glory seedlings? I have them in root trainers with seed starter mix. They g...
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What am I doing wrong with my morning glory seedlings? #862229
Asked March 22, 2024, 10:11 AM EDT
Hi friends- can you please guide me on how much water to give my morning glory seedlings? I have them in root trainers with seed starter mix. They germinated and came up quickly. I had been hand spraying them with a bottle of water so the top layer of soil would stay moist, but I had to do it twice a day and with all the seedlings and corms I’m trying to germinate, it was hard on my hand joints! I decided to sit the root trainer trays in a couple of inches of water for 10 minutes, and they watered themselves from the bottom up and stayed moist for a couple days. I noticed this morning though that they’re starting to look weird—some of the leaves are kind of dusty looking, faded green, and some look like they’re starting to curl around the edges and possibly die. Not yet…but I can see it’s coming if I don’t do something.
I have them in a south facing window, which they seemed to like—but I’m also wondering if perhaps the sun is too strong? I noticed a straight line on one of the leaves demarcating the vibrant green from the faded green, almost as if a shadow had protected part of the leaf from getting sunburned.
It has to be too much sun or too much water. Can you tell me which?
Anne Arundel County Maryland
Expert Response
It's difficult to tell what is happening to your morning glory seedlings.
It could be related to a sort of scalding from sunlight but if they have been in that same sun exposure since they germinated and the first leaves emerged it would be unlikely.
If the leaves were wet for a long period of time or the soil was too moist, it's possible it is the start of a disease.
A fungal infection referred to as 'damping off' is not uncommon when temps are above 68 degrees and when conditions are too moist, but usually causes collapse. Another pathogen, powdery mildew, is possible, though we are not sure it would develop that quickly.
Is that the only time you did that and went back to misting? Check with your finger to see if the soil beneath is overly dry, or by contrast, is overly moist.
In general Morning Glory don't like being transplanted and it's best to plant them in place outdoors. If your seedlings fail you could do a second planting outside. They are easy to start from seed as you've seen. You'd want to wait until we are closer to the last frost date for your area, which you can look up here:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/spring-frost-or-freeze-dates-maryland/ In central Maryland Mother's Day is usually a safe bet, however, If you decide to plant earlier, or even in mid-May, always keep an eye on the weather and cover them overnight if it is supposed to get frosty. Climate change has made predicting norms more difficult of late.
Christine
It could be related to a sort of scalding from sunlight but if they have been in that same sun exposure since they germinated and the first leaves emerged it would be unlikely.
If the leaves were wet for a long period of time or the soil was too moist, it's possible it is the start of a disease.
A fungal infection referred to as 'damping off' is not uncommon when temps are above 68 degrees and when conditions are too moist, but usually causes collapse. Another pathogen, powdery mildew, is possible, though we are not sure it would develop that quickly.
Is that the only time you did that and went back to misting? Check with your finger to see if the soil beneath is overly dry, or by contrast, is overly moist.
In general Morning Glory don't like being transplanted and it's best to plant them in place outdoors. If your seedlings fail you could do a second planting outside. They are easy to start from seed as you've seen. You'd want to wait until we are closer to the last frost date for your area, which you can look up here:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/spring-frost-or-freeze-dates-maryland/ In central Maryland Mother's Day is usually a safe bet, however, If you decide to plant earlier, or even in mid-May, always keep an eye on the weather and cover them overnight if it is supposed to get frosty. Climate change has made predicting norms more difficult of late.
Christine
To answer your question— yes, I only soaked them from the bottom one time. I felt that they absorbed possibly too much water…and I think I was right, unfortunately. If they collapse, I’ll try again, in the ground, the third week of April or so.
Can you tell me what it is about morning glories that makes them do poorly when transplanted? Is it just root disturbance issues, or more the sudden change in temperature? I bought cow pots, thinking they’d be a good solution for plants I want to start indoors but which don’t enjoy being transplanted. Would cowpots help the transplanting issues in this case?
Thanks so much, Christine!
Dawn
Hello Dawn,
We don't have detailed information about the germination of morning glories with regards to any particular sensitivities they may have in changes in growing conditions. Perhaps the roots are just fragile and easily broken during transplanting. We don't think Cowpots will be necessarily helpful or harmful; they're just another option of material (like coco coir or peat moss) for a biodegradable container. Bottom soaking isn't likely to over-water plants if done once, especially if they weren't sitting in water for days afterwards. Depending on the potting substrate used (how much peat moss is in it, for example, or if it's coco coir that contains too much salt), re-wetting dried substrate (for peat) or having too many salts in the root zone (for coir) that aren't leached out with regular watering could be part of the problem, but we can't be certain from the photos.
Miri
We don't have detailed information about the germination of morning glories with regards to any particular sensitivities they may have in changes in growing conditions. Perhaps the roots are just fragile and easily broken during transplanting. We don't think Cowpots will be necessarily helpful or harmful; they're just another option of material (like coco coir or peat moss) for a biodegradable container. Bottom soaking isn't likely to over-water plants if done once, especially if they weren't sitting in water for days afterwards. Depending on the potting substrate used (how much peat moss is in it, for example, or if it's coco coir that contains too much salt), re-wetting dried substrate (for peat) or having too many salts in the root zone (for coir) that aren't leached out with regular watering could be part of the problem, but we can't be certain from the photos.
Miri
