By Owdboggy
West Midlands,
United Kingdom 
Seedlings.
I do not grow much from seed these days. Most of my propagation is from division and cuttings. However, someone gave me a few packets of things and so I thunked I had better sow them Used Seed compost (Clover, peat based) and germination has been good, but that's it. The seedlings have just done nothing more than germinate. Never seen this happen before.
Anyone suggest what action to take to get the little beasts to grow?
TIA.
22 Jun, 2012
Answers
What are they please? Where are you keeping them? This is intriguing!
22 Jun, 2012
Are the pots outside, Owdboggy? Could be the cold and wet that they don't like, we have had cold and dry. The seedlings possibly don't like their roots in cold, wet peat? My seedlings are reasonably OK but I can control the amount of water that they get.
22 Jun, 2012
What are they, let's see. 6 different kinds of wild collected Rosularias, Geum ex Cooky, Gentiana acaulis, Potentilla hybrids, er, er, there are more but my brain is not functioning.
They are now outside but they were in the Propagation frame until I needed the room for other things so I moved them out a couple of weeks back. The ones I have still in the greenhouse are also not growing.
The Boss's veg stuff in the same peat and same conditions all grew ok.
22 Jun, 2012
Commelina coelestris, Allium gooddingii, Scilla litardierii and still more.
22 Jun, 2012
Hi! I also like growing from seed and as you say everything germinated but it's reached a kind of stasis with the lack of light/heat required to help plants romp away. Unless you have the sort of sophisticated set up used by hydroponics experts with heat lights trained on your seedlings you'll have to slum it with the rest of us :-D Hopefully we'll get better weather soon!
22 Jun, 2012
you are lucky you got germination, I spent £30 last autumn on seeds, and non have germinated. Thankfully I didn't sow all the seeds. I put it down to the crap composts I bought.............. john innes for seeds and another one, can't remember which one. So I will sterilise some soil and re sow. But I can't do it yet as i have to bake cakes for about 160 folk. If they don't appear in large numbers cakes will go in freezer til next visitors mid August.
23 Jun, 2012
We have decided that we will try feeding with Miracle grow and see what happens. Not as big a disaster as it could be , in that only the Rosularias are important as they were from wild collected seed and probably not offered again.
23 Jun, 2012
We and your seedling need some sun....straight from spring to autumn is confusing all of us!
23 Jun, 2012
It could be the weather, we sowed some veg seedlings in the school garden and very few came up, and that wasn't due to the kids sowing them either!! It has been very wet and not alot of sun, so maybe thats the explanation?
23 Jun, 2012
As I said, the Veg seedlings all grew perfectly and so have the self seeded stuff in the garden, just spent a happy hour potting up a lot of Morina longifolia, straight out of the soil round the plants.
23 Jun, 2012
Are they mostly perennials Ob?
23 Jun, 2012
Yes, don't do annuals.
23 Jun, 2012
Hmm wonder if they are slower......trees certainly are
23 Jun, 2012
Tell that to the Ash trees I have spent the day removing!
23 Jun, 2012
Ha! And birch. But, as a generalisation, I do find that the more specialist plants take longer to grow than the more usual ones.
23 Jun, 2012
Well we shall just have to be patient. Thanks for the answers.
24 Jun, 2012
Should add, that they germinated a month or more ago so I am not being impatient.
22 Jun, 2012