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igenlodeI went out slug-hunting by torchlight last night (I have acquired a Pointy Stick which functions well to cut slugs in half without damaging the waterproof roofing membrane) and discovered that I had somehow forgotten to bring in the mesembryanthemums when I took everything else vulnerable in for the night, and that they had collapsed again. I don't know if they will survive; it's very hard to tell with these succulent-type seedlings if they are fatally damaged or not. Last time the one nearest the edge withered away gradually from the base of the stem, leaving its fresh green leaves adhering misleadingly to the side of the pot, and the other two were just about beginning to show signs of perking upright again when this happened.
I suppose I probably shouldn't be putting them out at all, but I cannot feel that being kept in low light conditions and growing incredibly leggy is good for them :-(
And for heaven's sake, it's May; the speedwell and toadflax have been happily in flower for weeks, I have an overwintered pansy in full bloom (or it would be if the slugs didn't keep eating the flower each night, despite the fact that I have never once managed to catch one at it), and my strawberry plant is coming into flower. Seedlings shouldn't be dying of cold in the dark, and I was only bringing them in because of slugs.
The chilli seedlings that I planted out in the big pot aren't looking very happy either -- one collapsed entirely overnight -- but that doesn't matter as it was only an attempt to rehome spares. Having panicked and planted more when only two of the originals survived, I now have far too many... and the originals are looking like very sturdy, healthy little plants. I have been bringing them in at night and can always transplant some more; they will need to go into a large pot at some stage for their own sake.
In fact I do have plants growing elsewhere in randoms pots that I strongly suspect may be mesembryanthemums (and one is definitely a chrysanthemum -- the good news is that my freshly-potted-up chrysanthemums did in fact survive being dropped on their heads and are putting out healthy fresh leaves). If I'm right about the neon succulents being stray mesembryanthemums than they will be the fruit of my hopeful scattering of mixed seed much earlier in the year... but these outdoor-germinated plants are a completely different shape from the leggy creatures I have been trying to nurse to survival, being tiny low-growing rosettes. Quite possibly this is what they are supposed to look like!
I suppose I probably shouldn't be putting them out at all, but I cannot feel that being kept in low light conditions and growing incredibly leggy is good for them :-(
And for heaven's sake, it's May; the speedwell and toadflax have been happily in flower for weeks, I have an overwintered pansy in full bloom (or it would be if the slugs didn't keep eating the flower each night, despite the fact that I have never once managed to catch one at it), and my strawberry plant is coming into flower. Seedlings shouldn't be dying of cold in the dark, and I was only bringing them in because of slugs.
The chilli seedlings that I planted out in the big pot aren't looking very happy either -- one collapsed entirely overnight -- but that doesn't matter as it was only an attempt to rehome spares. Having panicked and planted more when only two of the originals survived, I now have far too many... and the originals are looking like very sturdy, healthy little plants. I have been bringing them in at night and can always transplant some more; they will need to go into a large pot at some stage for their own sake.
In fact I do have plants growing elsewhere in randoms pots that I strongly suspect may be mesembryanthemums (and one is definitely a chrysanthemum -- the good news is that my freshly-potted-up chrysanthemums did in fact survive being dropped on their heads and are putting out healthy fresh leaves). If I'm right about the neon succulents being stray mesembryanthemums than they will be the fruit of my hopeful scattering of mixed seed much earlier in the year... but these outdoor-germinated plants are a completely different shape from the leggy creatures I have been trying to nurse to survival, being tiny low-growing rosettes. Quite possibly this is what they are supposed to look like!
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Date: 2021-05-03 06:17 pm (UTC)