Limp seedlings

[Earthzenmama]

I started my seeds about a month ago. About a week and a half ago, I transferred seedlings that had their second set of leaves into larger containers (clear solo cups with holes in the bottom). They had been doing well until yesterday. Many seedlings of various types (broccoli, chard, cilantro, tomato) have started to go limp and some are looking spindly. I'm concerned about this. During the day they stay in a greenhouse with a fan going (not directly pointed at them) and they come inside the warm house for the night. I spritz them with a spray bottle a few times a day. They are in potting soil and coffee grounds. Why are they going limp suddenly?

[imafan26]

How hot is it getting in the greenhouse?

You have a fan and you spritz, do they get watered? Is the soil moist or dry?

[rainbowgardener]

It is always helpful to post your location. Hardly any gardening question can be answered without regard to location/ climate/ weather. What kind of temperatures are you dealing with? Where are you located that you are still needing to bring them in at night?

It's a mixed bag of stuff, mostly cold season stuff, but then the tomatoes which are not particularly cold tolerant. Broccoli and chard once hardened are exceptionally cold tolerant and likely could/ should be staying out all the time unless you are somewhere up near the Arctic circle.

"Spritzing" a few times a day sounds like a lot in terms of keeping the leaves moist all the time, which can conduce to fungal diseases, and yet if you are not really watering the soil, they could also be under- watered, in terms of having enough water at the roots for the plant to take up. They could paradoxically be too wet and too dry at the same time.

A couple pictures would really help us to help you figure out what is wrong. I always worry when people mention limp / spindly seedlings. If they are looking like these:


http://statebystategardening.com/images ... ff%201.jpg


http://f.tqn.com/y/gardening/1/W/s/Q/1/ ... 3-copy.jpg

they could be victim of damping off disease, which would be very bad news. But I don't want to borrow trouble if that is not what you are talking about.

[Earthzenmama]

I'm in colorado, zone 5. I started watering from the bottom and that's helped a bit. The greenhouse gets really warm, around 100. At night, it's in the 40s. So, I should just leave the broccoli outside at night? Should I also leave kale out?

[applestar]

Yep kale and broccoli would be way too hot at that temp and combined with low temp fluctuation, could easily bolt. 40's is nothing to them and broccoli can handle light frost even when heading up.

Tomatoes would also find 100°F too hot and would also be growing way to fast and spindly. You will need to vent the green house so it doesn't get much hotter than high 80's. I have heard that even with automatic vent openers opening the vents in the roof or high on the wall, you need to open the green house doors and windows when outside temps are in the 70's to keep the greenhouse from overhearing.

[Earthzenmama]

Here's my limp kale and a limp tomato plant. Are these done?

Also, can broccoli and kale stay out in the cold before they have been hardened off?