I am grieving my plants! :'(

[leydaleon]

I AM SO SAD! I AM VERY SAD!

I am grieving the death of my plants! My lettuces are dead, as well as all the herbs (but basil; that is on its way to death), the onions are practically gone too!

The 2nd cilantro plants didn't sprouted neither!

We are cleaning our garden in two weeks (we are too busy right now). So I will start seedlings again this weekend... but that doesn't make me feel better...

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WENT WRONG!

I want to cry!

[Garden Green]

I'm sorry your garden is dying or dead. In order to prevent this from happening again, however, we should find out what has caused it to die off. Pardon the machine gun fire of questions here, but to figure it out, sorta need to start somewhere.

What kind of set up do you have? Do you have raised beds or where you transplanting directly into the ground?

I know that you had some seedlings from previous posts, did they harden off well? I remember you saying that the lettuces seemed weak but I can't remember why, could this be it?

Did everything you start indoors die or did you direct sow some that also died?

Was it really dry or wet?
What kind of temps were there?
Did you see pests or signs of disease?

If I've forgotten anything, someone else jump in and ask so we can help out.

[leydaleon]

Well, I didn't sowed them yet. We still need to clean our garden plots in order to do that.

All that died were my seedlings. The only ones that survived were the Brocoli and pepper (the bigger ones). The other ones kind of got stuck! They stopped growing and one day they were all dead. I did watered them frequently, to keep the soil moist, no wet feet. The next day the cauliflower (the most recent seedling) died too.

I was talking to a friend and that day I took the plants out and it was windy around noon for like 3-4 hours. She said that might have damage them. I waited until the next day to see if they "wake-up" BUT they didn't. :(

If this happened to my seedlings I am not sure about starting tomatoes, they say they are really difficult! :(

[leydaleon]

I think I just realized what happened to my plants....

I was hardening them of, but I took them outside in the afternoon then put inside again by night...

That day, I put them outside in the morning, and came late afternoon... Maybe they didn't liked being ouside all day long.

Any tips on hardening off?

BTW, I started all my seeds again... lets cross fingers, and also started tomatoes (2 cherry ones, 4 rutgers, 4 endless summer). Lets see how it goes.. for now, I am stealing my husband's reading light! :D

[plantoneonme]

Well hardening off takes me at least 2, maybe 3 weeks:
First I take the plants outside and put in almost complete shade for no more than 2 hours the first 2 days.
Then I put in mostly shade for 2 hours for 2 days.
Then I place in part shade for 2 hours for 2 days.
I then start placing them in mostly sun for 2 hours and increase the time each day by no more than an hour.
By the end of 2 weeks they are outside most of the day in mostly sun BUT I place them in a more shaded location if the temps are above 75 degrees and keep well watered for at least another week.
By the time this is all done, they are ready to plant.

I start doing this with my tomatoes and peppers around the first of May to plant the 3rd or 4th weekend (depends on the long term weather forcast). Right now I am keeping them in a portable container that my husband made on wheels. It is 3 sided and I have a piece of plastic on one side I open and close depending the the temps. I simply turn the container a little more daily until it is in the full sun for most of the day.

HTH, Kim

[Warlord]

I know what it's like to raise plants from seed only to have them die a horrible death. I share in your pain. I have found out through tragic loses of pepper and tomato plants in the past that wind can be a most dreaded and deadly adversary. This year I have placed my plants out in an enclosed porch to keep them out of the wind. I do however turn a fan on low for awhile to help the tomatoes harden off. We must use the mistakes that regularly happen in our lives to learn and grow from and to use them as a spring board to reach toward bigger and better things. C-ya in the garden. Warren

[leydaleon]

I know what it's like to raise plants from seed only to have them die a horrible death. I share in your pain. I have found out through tragic loses of pepper and tomato plants in the past that wind can be a most dreaded and deadly adversary. This year I have placed my plants out in an enclosed porch to keep them out of the wind. I do however turn a fan on low for awhile to help the tomatoes harden off. We must use the mistakes that regularly happen in our lives to learn and grow from and to use them as a spring board to reach toward bigger and better things. C-ya in the garden. Warren

You are totally right! Love your idea of the fan! I started my tomato plants already lets see if they DO grow given that is said that is difficult to grow from seed. I'll post pics in my blog. So far... they are under lamp waiting to sprout! :)