Monday, June 23, 2008

bad news


one of my tiny gumtrees suddenly upped and died for no reason. you see it in a half-alive state - i just threw out the shrivelled corpse this afternoon when replanting its healthy sister.

i still have two lovely healthy plants, each in their own little terracotta pot. they bring me great joy, but i can't help worring about them now. i figured i've gone through about twenty seeds to get to this point, which makes it a 10% survival rate. i hope i never have to start again!

all else is well. summer has sprung, i'm eating snowpeas and strawberries warm off the plant and cycling everywhere. ah. . .

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was my first thought - 'damping off' - especially happens with natives


One problem that is often encountered with seedlings is "damping off". Damping off is the name given to a soil borne fungal disease that attacks the stems of seedlings and causes them to fall over. The best way to prevent this happening is to ensure that there is good air circulation around newly emerged or planted seedlings and that the drainage is good. Most commercially produced seed is treated with fungicide to help prevent damping off. If you save your own seed, you can coat it with fungicidal powder such as Bordeaux.

gumtreefid farmer said...

yes, you've mentioned that before and i've been very aware of it. i only water them when they're dry, and i put them in terracotta so it won't retain moisture.

but this didn't attack the stem of the plant - the seedling slowly shrivelled up from the top leaves down. you can see in the photo. most mysterious.

i suspect they're not getting enough light, like everything else i grow.

Anonymous said...

maybe not enough light - who would know?

native seedlings are tricky

my car battery is flat - don't know why - i'm all dressed up with nowhere to go

will do the pile of marking, i guess - would rather be at work

Anonymous said...

What a shame!! Although I had a beautiful red flowering gum in the garden that sprouted lots of new shoots in the spring, then promptly died from the leaves down!! Cost $65 too!! And I've never been able to grow strawberries.
How nice to be in the spring season! Tis cold, grey and dark now and the street lights are still on.
I'm not hopeful that we will get some rain. The Murray is in dire straits!! There is no water in it at Corowa!!
How are the 2 jobs going?
Lots of Love
XXX

Anonymous said...

maybe if you gave it some blood, the little triffid would revive itself? - but be careful not to get too close!

gumtreefid farmer said...

grotuhachi,

i'm going to move one to miriam's new place when she gets there, and see how it responds to greater light. maybe they're not supposed to look so thin and delicate? bother.

mwahaha! marking!

i like the image of you all dressed up w nowhere to go. hope you got the battery sorted.

love

gumtreefid farmer said...

crazy auntie #27,

oh, how sad! who knew the little buggers were so picky?

the strawberries are delicious. my little potted plant hasn't grown any (not enough light in its youth - now is outside), but ziggy's have lots. i just weeded around them so they get enough light to ripen properly.

poor murray. are they still taking water out upstream?

it may be summer here but it's still raining a lot! wanna swap?

two jobs are going well. i'm into a rhythm now. it's still exhuasting though. i had my day off and spent the whole time running round doing my groceries and dry cleaning and banking and staking the tomatoes.it is nice to have some money, though. i bought a big pot of very nice handcream.

lots of love back!

gumtreefid farmer said...

thankyou for your suggestion, itchy. i will give it thoughtful consideration.

i don't think i love them that much. . .