Planted them in the house 3 weeks ago, then took them up to my greenhouse one week ago, same with the cucumbers, Pumpkins are thriving, Squashes seem lazy, very peed off.....What have i done wrong?
Nothing. It seems lots of people are having squash problems this year. For me, tis melons. Sowed dozens and dozens, but only a couple bothered to germinate! GRR! More heat less water maybe.............
i gave my plants more heat than i have to my ole man!!!! Sorry the plants come first (JOKE) hope your melons pick up soon !!!! LOL. Sarah X
Same problem here, struggling with germination managed only two squashes out of 20 seeds sown and on moving them snapped one off.
Have now replanted courgettes for the third time. All seeds are from Thompson and Morgan and Ive had no problems with them before.
Regards
Chriszog
My seeds are from all over and it has to be the worst germination of squashes and courgettes I have ever had!! Normally I am over run with the things, I am going to do a re sow today, and you watch, all the other b*ggers that have been sitting doing nothing for weeks will appear! ;D
speaking of courgette problems, has anyone had seeds germinate, but look really sickly?? ??? One of my seedlings (Gold Rush) germinated in 3 days, but came up brown and oozing looking - I've never seen anything like that and binned it straight away! Has anyone had problems germinating cucumber seeds as well this year? strange...
Blimey - that makes a change - all of my courgettes are growing like wildfire and normally I'm the one posting this message :P However, don't all throw stones at me, my tomatoes and peppers are doing absolutely nothing after I fried the first happy lot in the greenhouse :-\
I only have about a 40% germination rate of a variety of gherkins, squashes, courgettes and pumpkins. I did mean to get around to labelling them.... but forgot. And now my son has watered them and moved them around I can't tell them apart. I guess I will just get a suprise...
I haven't grown these before - so thought the low germination rate was normal.
I'm having real problems with the minnesota melons; so far got one OK young plant and one stunted looking seedling... and that's it. Yesterday I dug down into the remaining 'ungerminated pots' to check on the seeds... all turned out to be hopelessly rotten, & were binned. So last night I put my last four melon seeds into less watered compost & have cling-filmed them onto a windowsill (not airing cupboard, this time)... fingers crossed.
Butternut Squash - 2/2 germinated.
Courgettes (Tondo) - 2/3 germinated.
Spookacular Pumpkin - 4/4 germinated (gulp)
Miniature White cucumbers - 7/7 germinated (but I immediately fried the first three on a south-facing windowsill; bit of a steep learning curve, this plant malarky :( )
Sorry, but I'm with lazybones - all my courgettes and cukes germinated! (all 5 cukes and 3 courgettes) I sowed 2 in one pot, just in case and both came up :D
Pumpkins are a bit of a different story I've probably only had half of those germinate :(. They weren't germinating so well in the mini-greenhouse, so I have the latest batch in an unheated propogator on a south-facing windowsill.
i had trouble with my butternut squash if you recall (i posted about it on here somewhere).
i did look into the pot to see what the seeds were doing, if anything - one did nothing while the other 'seemed' to have dropped a root but just not come upwards yet. in any case, i stuck two more seeds in just in case - guess what? those two new seeds came up within 4 days! i have now taken the two original 'dead' seeds out - and they did look like they were rotten. so maybe i overwatered in the first two or three days?
funny thing is my other cucs/courgettes /pumpkins came up beautifully under the exact same conditions.
i am a happy bunny now though :)
svea
I empathise with all posts here.Â
Still no joy with my Blue Ballet pumpkins, but I am over-endowed with butternut squash. I put two courgettes out under cloches yesterday.
Interesting that so many people are getting zero germination with one variety when their other varieties are thriving in exactly the same conditions.
are some squash more temperamental than others???
gourds (LIDL) 8/8 germinated within week
cucumbers (Suttons) 9/8 germinated within week
courgettes (Woolies) 3/8 germinated within week (one more struggling through, remainder no action at all)
all sown indoors, in a pot inside sealed foodbag, all looking healthy, now out of bag in 'windowed' garden shed, but why didn't the other four courgettes germinate? will three plants be enough?
9/8 cucumbers germinated?! divine intervention?
Must read properly before I post
9/8?? That's a good trick!
Had 1/8 courgettes come up, so put another 8 in and 6 of them have come up really quickly and, as Doris predicted, now the first lot have started showing signs of life! C-est la vie :)
germination! aahhhh!!!! I think i'm gonna need a few more years practise b4 i get anywhere close to growing the amount i set out to.
You read the seed packets, think you're doing it right, then you find out that some need light, others dont, some need just cling film, others just a sunny windersill, others need warmth and light blocked, others need frost. some need singlularly seeding others dont mind being housed together.
I've got loads of books and magazines, i need an a-z book with absolutely everything explained, from germination, feeds, pinching out, pruning, harvesting and storing!!!!!
I do not appear to be having a problem germinating anything. The squashes and courgettes I sowed for my youngest's plot mid April are going great guns (despite being put out and left out far too much). My maize germinated outside this week (inside now). My beans (runner and french) are just starting. I have had no problems with potatoes, onions, garlic, purple sprouting, leeks, broad beans, sprouts, lettuce (except one variety out of an old packet), spring onions, carrots or parsnips. I did have one tray of Wheelers that completely failed to show but I now think I did everything (dibbing, filling, labelling watering etc.) but forgot to put the seeds in. I am hoping and crossing fingers and toes that my luck continues - although I am not counting any chickens.
Well sowed about 20 more squash today, if the originals put in an appearance, I shall have more squash than a squash farmer! :-\
redclanger-
how much stuff are you growing that you've never grown b4? cos thats what i'm talking about! i've previously only been able to grow stuff in containers, now i've got a bigger(and i mean bigger) garden, i've gone mad and tried everything, some things i'm really pleased with, others i'm absolutely devasted, although i do admit to germinating things like melon cucumbers, passiflora, pampas grass, oriental poppy(struggled), lobelia, burpless cucs, ornamentsl grasses to name a few not tried b4. to which i am rather proud. amongst the other usual,courgettes, toms, etc
i sowed my courgettes in an inch of compost 'cos i didnt have any other planting tub at hand and i was on a sowing mission, they've done brilliantly. what i cant understand is that they're called 'black beauty' which is normally an aubergine???? its an organic one from johnsons. can anyone shed any light on this, they seem to be coming up brilliantly though, already potted 3 on, and another two waiting for it!
My squashes have germinated fantastically and are looking very sturdy. It is the pumpkins that I have had problems with. I have had two goes. Have just tried my OH's method of germinating "big" seeds, he puts some warm water on several layers of kitchen roll on a small plate, then a freezer bag encloses it which is blown into to create a bubble and tied up with a wire tag. This is then put somewhere warm and dark like the airing cupboard and lo and behold several days later the little dears start sprouting, ready to be put into some compost. Has worked for me as pumpkins now sprouting. :) busy_lizzie  Â
I am a total newbie. I got my lottie in January and a lot of it is still weed ridden. The only things I have ever grown before are cabbage, onion, garlic, runner beans and herns in a very small terraced house garden. Everything is in cells, pots or paper pots and tubes at home at the moment, except the potatoes, onion, garlic, peas, broad beans and a few cabbages. I am digging as I need and then planting fairly mature plants that I hope can cope with the at times adverse conditons. I find I need to dig and clear three time to make a patch useable so it may be slow progress getting some fo the things in - roll on half term.
These posts show signs of such frenetic activity going on in a desparate attempt to get stuff ready to go out. It's brill ;D My no show courgettes pumpkins and squashes are being threatened with the bin if they don't show today ;D I wonder if I sowed them too deep so will have a prod to see if they've rotted or whatever :(
I think im going to have a poke about too, and have an inquest into whats gone wrong!!!! and get some new ones in if they have rotted. The same happened with my french beans nothing happened, when i looked they were completley mouldy under the soil, So i went to the garden centre for back ups!!! Could be something in the pots???
Quote from: busy_lizzie on May 11, 2005, 23:24:22
My squashes have germinated fantastically and are looking very sturdy. It is the pumpkins that I have had problems with. I have had two goes. Have just tried my OH's method of germinating "big" seeds, he puts some warm water on several layers of kitchen roll on a small plate, then a freezer bag encloses it which is blown into to create a bubble and tied up with a wire tag. This is then put somewhere warm and dark like the airing cupboard and lo and behold several days later the little dears start sprouting, ready to be put into some compost. Has worked for me as pumpkins now sprouting. :) busy_lizzie  Â
Can this be done with all types of big seeds i.e., beans, peas, etc... or is it not advisable for some? Sounds like a great idea, and space saver! Also saves poking around in compost to see what's happening when seeds don't germinate! :)
well, ive done my poking and the seeds are swollen, so im going to give them a bit more time. They didnt look mouldy, fingers crossed they will go!!!
Quote from: littlegem on May 11, 2005, 23:11:09
what i cant understand is that they're called 'black beauty' which is normally an aubergine???? its an organic one from johnsons. can anyone shed any light on this...
one of my varieties is 'black beauty' (a zucchini) - why shouldnt it have the same name as an aubergine? differemt species, after all?
got mine ;from my mom in germany...
also growing an all bush green
Yep, I've poked about in the compost to reveal the little darlings languishing doing nothing ;D I've loosened the compost a bit to give them some air and watered them. Hope they're not too wet now ;D
;) I had trouble with my first lot of squash/pumpkins. Only about 50% came up.
Am doing better with second lot, Gardeners World are running a trial and I got two lots of seeds, Crown Prince and Hundredweight. About 75% are up!!!
First lot I just plonked in (serves me right) second lot soaked in tepid water overnight, then placed all seeds on their sides. Apparently this stops them rotting or going squishy.
I find you need to be determined and have another go when things go wrong with this gardening lark!
I've got a nice lot of outdoor cucumbers coming up. I've always had trouble with slugs biting the stems off when I plant them out, so I probably need to grow them on a bit more under glass this year.
I'm very new to all this (only had my lottie for about 3 weeks). I planted courgettes indoors as soon as I got my lottie. The Gold Rush came up after about 2 weeks but the green ones (can't remember what they were) are just starting to come through. They were headed for the bin until I had a poke to find out what was going on. I'd definitely recommend a poke if you're worried.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on May 12, 2005, 17:52:29
I've got a nice lot of outdoor cucumbers coming up. I've always had trouble with slugs biting the stems off when I plant them out, so I probably need to grow them on a bit more under glass this year.
Slugs biting the stems off? Could it be cut worms? Slugs usually go for the tender leaves don't they? Maybe you should have a little scratch around the plants to find out, cut worms live near the surface of the soil. A collar around the seedlings will do the trick against cut worms. I used rings cut from plastic drink cups, cut 5cm wide, pushed about 3cm into the soil and leave 2cm above.
I don't think its cut worms; it's happened to plants in pots which I left outside as well, and I've regularly found slug or snail slime on the damage.
Ah, I see. Such a bummer to have a seedling you took care of for weeks be chopped off. Throw pellets at the slugs?
they have had a go at some of my pumpkin, melon, cucumber leaves too,
i tend to throw slug pellets round the base of the grow bag, stop the devils getting on it.
I too have had success with Johnson's Black Beauty courgettes and my Burpless tasty green cuc's have been 100%. My Butternuts have been poor though, only 2 from 5 and one of those looks weak.
Sweetcorn seems to be my biggest problem! Just about to re-sow,,,,think I may have sown them too early in my haste! Only 8 from 36 :-[
my butternuts have been a disaster!none at all! :(
i've got black beauty too-100% pumpkins are all fine-getting their second leaves-but they are a bit mottled and the edges of the leaves are very pale..... ???
does everyone keep some seedlings back for the odd slug related disaster -or do you all throw slug pellets about?
kitty :D
my black beauties are at their third true leave and already have grown a tiny baby flower :o
and my butternuts are finally through - as i had such trouble with the germination i repotted them into single pots, rather than pinching out all but one.
i hope they take kindly to the root disturbance :-\
I hate using slug pellets. I used to use them in my cold frames, but these days I have a multistory effort and put anything vulnerable upstairs.
Success...
:)
3/4 Melon seeds have now germinated.
...opens what was once a pristine notebook; but is now a water wrinkled, soil & compost smeared mess of pages, to scribble myself a 'what to do next year' N.B.
2/2 squash and 2/4 courgettes have just started to show - sowed in propogaters about two or threee weeks ago. But as for lots of you out there, germination of seeds has been very hit and miss this year. Must be the cold weather we've had. I reckon it's full steam ahead now. ;D
I think the cold weather is about the size of it. I germinate mine in a cold frame and it's been a real flop.