The good news is most seedling problems come from a small handful of causes, causes that we can actually control - light, temperature, water, airflow, or sanitation. And once you know what you’re looking at, you can usually fix it quickly or at least stop it from spreading to the rest of your tray.
So, I’m going to give you a simple diagnostic checklist and then we’ll walk through the most common seedling symptoms and what to do about each one.
Let's dig in!
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References and resources:
University of Illinois Extension: Troubleshooting seed starting problems: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2022-02-25-whats-wrong-my-seedlings-troubleshooting-seed-starting-problems
University of Minnesota Extension: How to prevent seedling damping off: https://extension.umn.edu/solve-problem/how-prevent-seedling-damping
Utah State University Extension: Seedling culture, airflow, temps: https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/research/starting-vegetable-seeds-indoors-seeding-culture-and-transplanting.pdf
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