Hey! We have some Hollyhock seeds that sprouted and were doing awesome until one went limp. Cant figure out what's wrong with it. We spray the soil to make it moist but not soggy once a day and it gets plenty of sunlight. Can anyone recommend any fixes? Thanks
How much light do they get? It sure looks like they have not gotten enough light, either grow light or sun, they have started getting leggy and the stems are so thin they can not hold up the plant.
They are right under a grow light getting a good 10-12 hours of light daily. Maybe it could be that they're so leggy. Anything to do that would help them support themselves?
Check the moisture in the soil, stick your finger into the soil to see how far down it goes before you feel moisture. To create strong roots you need to hold off watering until the soil is dry to about 2 knuckles below the surface. Spraying the top of the soil really doesn't water the plants if just makes the surface too soggy to hold the plant up and can cause the stem to rot. You might try putting a light layer of dry soil on top of what's there, it will help the seedling stand up. But I don't know if that will heal the stem if the moisture has made it weak.
I've heard some people use a fan for a few hours a day to strengthen the young plants. Set the fan far enough back on low speed just enough to get a gentle breeze toward the plants.
Legginess and a bit too much moisture, I believe. I would suggest giving your hollyhocks much less water--they like being in moist but well-draines soil; however, they can be too wet and then develop among other things problems such as "rust...but develop a schedule and give them the same amount on the same day each week or two...and give the water from under, not on top of the soil, as this could lead to rotting off at the soil line. I am not too sure what you can do about the legginess, because I do not understand your set-up there other than you are located in Canada. Personally, I feel that it is a little too early to begin hollyhock germination, because of marginal natural light and the coolness."You could also use a support to tie the plantlets to. Good luck with your babies...please keep us posted. Addendum: you may want to germinate more seeds later on in the season (generally you can plant them from off 3-4 weeks after the last frost), or even in the summer. Alcea's will probably not bloom the first year anyway, so you can take your time.
I agree with Toni... they need more light. how far above the plants is the light source? it may be too far away... anything more than a few inches above it is too high.. is the stem soft and bent or just toppled over? if it is toppled over poke a pencil into the soil and take a twisty tie or something you can remove as needed, an use the pencil to stake it up. soft and bent sounds like it won't make it.
