Seedling shell not falling off

[slaboosh]

Hi, my seedlings seems to have soil inside of the shell of the seed and it has still not cracked off of the seedling, should this concern me? Posted images below.

 

[jwreck]

If you dont remove it by hand it will keep stretching thinking its still underground. Next time leave them in paper towels until the shell slides off usually around 48-72 hrs then plant

 

[slaboosh]

If you dont remove it by hand it will keep stretching thinking its still underground. Next time leave them in paper towels until the shell slides off usually around 48-72 hrs then plant

I popped it open with some tweezers and this is how it looks now. There appears to be a brown spot on one of the leafs. Does everything look in tact?

 

[jwreck]

Yeah thats normal but take it completely off so it can open ip

 

[SouthCross]

Mist it with water. The shell will soften up and falls off. I wouldn't go to yanking on the sprout. Keep it moist and it'll come off naturally.

 

[slaboosh]

Mist it with water. The shell will soften up and falls off. I wouldn't go to yanking on the sprout. Keep it moist and it'll come off naturally.

Kinda already yanked on it to get the seed off. I tried to be as careful as possible. The seedlings came out of the soil a bit but i pushed them back in and put some soil around the base. Should they be alright?

 

[SouthCross]

Only time will tell. One to three days.

 

[SouthCross]

There's a membrane inside the shell. If it gets dry, the seed pod halves will stick to the sprout. Usually misting softens the membrane and the pod falls off in a day or two.

 

[Jmy137900]

maybe your environment needs to be more humid

 

[slaboosh]

Im using jiffy seed starting mix. It says its a dry mix. I've just been sprinkling small amounts of water around the plants a couple of times per day. Should I completely soak the mix or just keep watering in small amounts as normal?

 

[SouthCross]

I believe it's a protective measure. If it's not upwards to 80-90% humidity when the sprout emerges. The pod halves will stay on longer until a moisture level is reached or the sprout pushes it off.

 

[SouthCross]

Im using jiffy seed starting mix. It says its a dry mix. I've just been sprinkling small amounts of water around the plants a couple of times per day. Should I completely soak the mix or just keep watering in small amounts as normal?

On a drenched pot, soil. It won't need water for another 7-10 days. It'll be three to four times it's size before it needs to be watered. Then it's a light water.

Example, Two gallon pot should need about 4-6 cups water per pot. Don't drench to runoff until the plant can handle it. That's around 4 weeks old. You should only be watering in veg around 4-5 times. Sprout to 12" tall. 5 times...

 

[slaboosh]

On a drenched pot, soil. It won't need water for another 7-10 days. It'll be three to four times it's size before it needs to be watered. Then it's a light water.

Example, Two gallon pot should need about 4-6 cups water per pot. Don't drench to runoff until the plant can handle it. That's around 4 weeks old. You should only be watering in veg around 4-5 times. Sprout to 12" tall. 5 times...

So just continue with the dry soil and keep adding small amounts of water around the seedling until it gets bigger?

 

[SouthCross]

So just continue with the dry soil and keep adding small amounts of water around the seedling until it gets bigger?

If you didn't drench it first then yes. Be extremely light with the amount. Cover the entire soil top. You can use a spray bottle. That's enough. Spray about a cup of water in the soil. Think of it as a baby. It can't drink that much water so the soil stays wet. If you use a watering pot. Water towards the outsides of the pot. Let the water soak towards the sprout.

 

[bigsteve]

Two ways to approach this problem --

If you are using the paper towel method for germinating make sure you have removed both halves of the seed cap before removing from the paper towels. It is easiest to manipulate the seed cap pieces while the seedling is still lying mostly flat in the paper towels.

To separate the seed cap parts when she is already in dirt - use 2 toothpicks to separate and remove the seed cap halves.

Good luck, BigSteve.