Hello, my girlfriend and I finished our first garden bed yesterday evening. It with some seeds and some transplants. It is a 4x4x1 raised bed. Today I went out and everything looks very sad and wilted. We're in zone 7a and the peak temperature today was about 75°F.
Is this a sign of the worst? What can we do? Am I overreacting?
Before and after pictures were taken 22-24 hours apart.
Thank you in advance for any help.
by wholesome_stump
42 Comments
Assuming that’s all brand new dirt from the box store and this is the first watering? That’s 16cubic ft of soil. You need to soak that thing with tons of water.
So thirsty…
Water everything thoroughly and then mulch on top.
You need to Harden Off plants before transplant. Did these go from indoors, straight into the ground?
Looks like a mix of transplant shock and being thirsty.
I’d say transplant shock and sun shock maybe, harden them off means giving them more outside time gradually basically. Because they’ve been in a greenhouse they’re not used to super direct sunlight and outdoor conditions. I made this mistake my first year gardening too but most of my stuff survived and came back stronger it just took a little bit!
They’re just feeling a little hot.
Use your finger to check the soil. Make sure it’s moist under the surface. if it isn’t, water them. I recommend watering them once, wait 15 minutes, and water again. This ensures the water is soaked into the soil and then can make it to the actual plant’s roots.
Mulch will also help a lot.
Another tip is when it’s warmer outside plant towards the end of the day. gives the plants longer to establish themselves before the intense heat.
Did you harden off the transplants? My guess is no.
I would give them some extra water deep watering and if you have some liquid fertilizer a little of that to help feed them over this rough transition and pray they bounce back. Water every day when they are seedlings.
Oh boy. Looks like you missed the step of hardening them off
Water them, and mulch so they do not dry up that fast. They should perk up as the temperature drops. If tomorrow is again very hot repeat and try shading a bit
They’re doing plant drama! They weren’t emotionally prepared to be outdoor plants. They’ll come around.
Its drying out, you need mulch
Make sure you give them a good soak. Watering may not go down as far as you think it does.
Get shade cloth since you’ve already put them in the dirt. Like others have said you have to harden off your plantlings before transplanting them into a new environment. I bet it’s the direct sunlight.
Thinking they need more water
Probably lack of water combined with transplant shock, very common especially in squash. After transplanting you need to water extra well. This helps the soil to settle in around the roots and makes it easier for the plant to get the water it needs while dealing with being transplanted. If they don’t perk right up in a couple of hours after watering, try to get them some shade for a couple of days. Also keep the soil nice and moist for a couple of days. Don’t worry about overwatering at this point, extra water will drain out the bottom of the bed. The problems caused by overwatering happen when the soil stays too wet for a long time, not a couple of days.
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Make sure you didn’t pack the soil too tightly around or on-top of the things you transplanted in! You should be able to just check with your fingers, and loosen gently if anything is packed tight.
First few days after transplanting, **even hardened off plants are susceptible to heat stress and need protection from the sun** during the heat of the day. Early in the morning, before the sun gets too hot, I shade them by covering with large plastic pots, prop up pieces of cardboard that shade the entire plant. Then about 5pm, I take it off. Then do it again the next day. Best to water heavily and transplant on **shady cool days.** Protect them until they don’t wilt when exposed of full sun. Usually takes about 2-3 days.
Did u water after you planted them?
Plants are in shock. Hardening can help. Overwatering for the first 48 hours can help. Shade cloth can help.
The will look like this during the day for a while. They will look better in the evenings/night after the sun us down. As the roots grow, they will get over this part.
Transplants and seeds are like little babies. Keep them moist and then keep straw or mulch on them to keep the moisture in and the temps more stable.
Transplants and seeds are like little babies. Keep them moist and then keep straw or mulch on them to keep the moisture in and the temps more stable.
They’re probably heat-stressed from the sun since they were just transplanted. They should perk back up in the evening when it cools off and they will probably need a week or so to adjust. Make sure the soil stays moist but **don’t** flood them to try to overcompensate. If you can, try to get some shade over them for a few days.
Here’s my guess:
You can see in pic 1 how dark the soil is. It looks completely saturated with water. In pic 2 it looks light, or pretty dry, at least on the surface. These plants are young tender seedling transplants. They don’t have developed root systems. They were happy in their containers with undisturbed roots. They got disturbed and out into this bed and likely went from some sort of protected climate to full on direct sun. The lack of moisture, damage/shock to the already small root systems when they got taken out of their containers, and then experiencing direct sunlight for hours on end, even on a nice 75 degree day, is a lot for a plant.
Think about it this way, in nature, would you ever see a pepper, tomato, or squash plant just out in the wide open middle of a field in total direct sunlight? Does that seem like it makes sense? As things heat up, a shade cloth can be a huge benefit. Keep them watered, twice a day if need be. The plants in the ground, mulch around them.
aw no, did you harden off your transplants? if you start seeds indoors, they require a transitional period before they can be planted in the ground (or permanently placed outside) in which they are brought outdoors for gradually increasing hrs + brought back in at night to get them used to living outside.
this is called Hardening Off your plants.
when you skip this step, you risk your tender, indoor pampered seedlings getting shocked by the rapid environment change and it can often be too much for their delicate systems—and they die.
the seeds you sowed will be fine, keep the soil moist until signs of germination and then reduce watering to the recommended amount on the seed packet.
I bet they are already perking up by the time I post this.
Didn’t harden them enough before transplant, imo
A few thoughts.
Were the transplants hardened off?
Also those are big for transplanting IMO. Plants half that size would do better, usually.
Give them a good watering.
If the plants were not hardened off, they are going to need some protection from the sun. Try an hour in the sun and then two hours shaded (can toss a sheet over them) and repeat this for a few days, lengthening the time in the sun each day. If you can’t do that….pray for clouds for a few days. Lol
What soil mix did you use.
Looks dry.
If these were transplanted it is likely just shock. It happens.
If you have already watered dont water again like these others are saying. New roots are very prone to rot if its overwatered and is the most common cause of young dead plants
Just give it a few days for the plant to get over the transplant shock and do light waterings at first. Those roots are not 2 feet deep they are 4-6 inches or less so it doesnt take much water to get down there.
You needed to water them yesterday. Maybe even Saturday.
Root shock. I’m sorry.
is that mulch on top or did you fill it with crap ‘soil’ that is pretty much all uncomposted woodchips?
either way water. if you are unsure about when to water get one of those soil moisture probes. i water everything in my garden by hand and i use a moisture probe to make sure i dont overwater.
Also you hardened off the transplants ya? Hopefully they are just thirsty.
Did you harden them off first?
Did you harden them off? If you put baby plants in the right into the hot sun, they’ll suffer. Like how we get sunburnt our first time in the sun. You need to introduce them gradually.
Edit: I didnt read the comments, looks like you’ve gotten this advice. I saved mine once by putting shade cloth over them (i used burlap), it filters the sun. I angled it so that when the sun would be the strongest midday, they were shaded. Eventually the plants didnt need it anymore.
If you plant vegetables and they all wilt even though you watered them it’s possible that there’s a lot of air around the roots because you didn’t tamp the soil down enough. When I plant something really big I literally stand on the soil around it. Gently push down on the soil to make sure the roots aren’t drying out from gaps in the soil.
It’s probably too late in the year to have this happen but if you didn’t harden off seedlings that spent their entire life indoors they will wilt overnight. Hardening off means taking them outside for two hours one day then four the next then eight then overnight then overnight again and *then* transplanting them into the garden.