Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Cultivation => Cultivation Problems => Topic started by: kirsitn on March 16, 2009, 05:30:32 PM

Title: Origanum rotundifolium seedlings that keep dying...
Post by: kirsitn on March 16, 2009, 05:30:32 PM
Origanum rotundifolium is giving me a serious headache...  >:(The seeds sprouted like weeds, but the seedlings don't seem to want to live. After growing extermely slowly for a couple of weeks they started dying and now I'm left with a single seedling that doesn't look happy at all. As far as I can tell there are no pests, and it doesn't look like damping off disease either. Could it be that the temperature is too low (10-15°C in the beginning, now 14-18°C) or could they be intolerant to alkaline soil?

Title: Re: Origanum rotundifolium seedlings that keep dying...
Post by: Lesley Cox on March 17, 2009, 10:39:51 PM
I can't help with this specific problem but I know how you feel. It happens occasionally with a number of plants. My original potting up of 55 Gentiana depressa eventually left me with just 1 which is now doing well but I've no notion why the others all gradually died off. Everything seemed to be right; compost, moisture, time of year etc.

Having said that, I've never had a seed or self sown seedling from any of my origanums, even the apparently prolific 'Kent Beauty.' I do them from cuttings and have exactly the same problem. They root well and when potted on, gradually die off. I've tried doing a single cutting into a small pot and they don't like that either. The one exception has been O. microphyllum which does grow on nicely after potting the rooted cuttings.

My O. rotundifolium is the original type plant collected by Albury, Cheese and Watson in 1966.
Title: Re: Origanum rotundifolium seedlings that keep dying...
Post by: Otto Fauser on March 18, 2009, 06:53:32 AM
Lesley , Ido find the occasional selfsown seedling around my plants of O. rotundifolium
 'Kent Beauty', but as it is such a prolific grower -it suckers -why bother with cuttings?
 I find O. dictamnus very easy from cuttings .
    otto
Title: Re: Origanum rotundifolium seedlings that keep dying...
Post by: Lesley Cox on March 18, 2009, 07:50:42 PM
I find O. dictamnus very easy from cuttings .
    otto

Alas, I do not. :(
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal