Oh the irony of life...
Wasn't I just showing you all YESTERDAY my happy, healthy little seedlings? After over a month of maintenance and care, I finally felt secure enough to post about their progress. Well folks, I hope you got a good look - because that was their last day.
Last night it got really cold. The temperature dipped lower than it has in a while and our little heater in the green house malfunctioned. Either the cold was just too much for the heater to compete with, or it stopped working entirely for a spell. Either way, the result was the same - seedling devastation.
I noticed they weren't looking their best when I left for work this morning and the temperature in the greenhouse read in the low 40s. The leaves looked twisted and a strange color dark green.
When I checked on it later in the day, the greenhouse had warmed up again and it caused many of the seedlings to completely fall over, collapsed in the soil. Apparently, cold causes damage in the cells of the stalks and leaves, and the real damage is only apparent after the plant thaws. The plant looses all structural integrity and falls over. I thought I had lost about half of my seedlings. I panicked. After a quick google, I gave them all some water and hoped for the best.
As the day has gone on, their condition keeps changing. New symptoms of death keep appearing to what I thought were the hearty seedlings earlier today. By 5:00 this evening, even the plants that looked perfect earlier today are discolored and drooping. Plants that looked sad but I had hope for, have now turned deathly brown. However, some plants I took for dead have bounced back. Overall, though, I'd say that there are now more plants effected than the original half I projected.
Wasn't I just showing you all YESTERDAY my happy, healthy little seedlings? After over a month of maintenance and care, I finally felt secure enough to post about their progress. Well folks, I hope you got a good look - because that was their last day.
Last night it got really cold. The temperature dipped lower than it has in a while and our little heater in the green house malfunctioned. Either the cold was just too much for the heater to compete with, or it stopped working entirely for a spell. Either way, the result was the same - seedling devastation.
I noticed they weren't looking their best when I left for work this morning and the temperature in the greenhouse read in the low 40s. The leaves looked twisted and a strange color dark green.
When I checked on it later in the day, the greenhouse had warmed up again and it caused many of the seedlings to completely fall over, collapsed in the soil. Apparently, cold causes damage in the cells of the stalks and leaves, and the real damage is only apparent after the plant thaws. The plant looses all structural integrity and falls over. I thought I had lost about half of my seedlings. I panicked. After a quick google, I gave them all some water and hoped for the best.
As the day has gone on, their condition keeps changing. New symptoms of death keep appearing to what I thought were the hearty seedlings earlier today. By 5:00 this evening, even the plants that looked perfect earlier today are discolored and drooping. Plants that looked sad but I had hope for, have now turned deathly brown. However, some plants I took for dead have bounced back. Overall, though, I'd say that there are now more plants effected than the original half I projected.