Catnip in Las Vegas

Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:51 pm

I have gotten my hands on catnip seeds, because one day I had the bright idea, that...my wife has a cat..and we buy dried catnip..might as well plant one and not have to buy it again. plus its fresh so it's stronger and better than the store stuff.

Anyhoo, I have been able to get the seeds to sprout their first (non true) leaves, growing in my moisture control potting mix from miracle gro. They shortly after sprouting those leaves, start to wilt. This is a north south window facing home, so my feeling is, after reading, that I

1. need to let the soil be more dry..just barely moist, and if so, maybe i am not doing that..i need to let the soil dry out more?

2. should I keep a growing light(I have a lamp with a Compact fluourescent lamp that I just now started to put just above the plants for 12 hours a day) on them for most of the day to promote growth so they stop getting tall lanky, and wilting?

I can't think of anything else that would be causing them to wilt, and I am by no means a green thumb, just following all catnip growing advice I see online. Thanks for the help!!

Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:57 am

Sounds like damping off; that moist mix might not be the thing. Plus it likely has fertilizer in it which I don't recommend for seedlings... try drying things a bit and see if that helps...

HG

Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:39 pm

The Helpful Gardener wrote:Sounds like damping off; that moist mix might not be the thing. Plus it likely has fertilizer in it which I don't recommend for seedlings... try drying things a bit and see if that helps...

HG

yeah i think it was damping off. I stopped watering them because it seems that t his mix is made to hold moisture, so not watering it, it stays somehwat moist for a long time. The fake leaves are still there, looks healthy, but the true leaves have not sprouted yet. It has been now 6 days and no true leaves. Will it be maybe another week before the true leaves are out? i will try another batch with potting mix that does not have the continuous release plant food. thanks, I will update as things change

Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:29 pm

My catnip seems to like to be abused and it wont die. I left it outside all winter (oops I thought it was already dead) come back to clean out the garden area and there it is in its pot still alive. Make sure that it is away from the cat, once it gets discovered the cat may kill the plant. Mine like to roll on it so I now keep it caged outside.

Mine does not like to be over watered but I did place some straw over the top of the soil to keep it consistently moist.

Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:49 am

If possible I would considering keeping a small pot of catnip inside for your cats!

My cats are horrible about eating my cut flowers and indoor plants. Last year when I brought a small catnip plant home from the pet store, they left my stuff alone until they finally chewed that one to death.