Abiu seedling tips needed

[tru]

Hi,

I have an abiu seedling that I successfully germinated, but upon planting completely stalled. How can I wake the seedling back up? I transplanted it into a slightly bigger pot the second I saw roots at the bottom. (2 months since germinating, 1 month since seeing roots and transplanting)

I have a feeling that when I repotted, I planted too deep. Is it normal for the large bump of plant tissue within the seed to be buried, with only the shoot showing, or completely exposed with the shoot? Plant has not gained any height in 45 days. Any tips much appreciated, scared to look tomorrow morning for mold 

[fruit nerd]

How deep did you bury the seed? I would just bury the root and have the seed more or less just sit on top of the soil. A lot of tropicals will want to throw off the seed casing and I imagine burying the seed could cause problems with this. Can't remember if that is the case for abiu though.

[tru]

How deep did you bury the seed? I would just bury the root and have the seed more or less just sit on top of the soil. A lot of tropicals will want to throw off the seed casing and I imagine burying the seed could cause problems with this. Can't remember if that is the case for abiu though.

Barely at all, probably an eighth of an inch. Still, things just don't seem right. Going to dig it up right now, hopefully the roots have grown since last time

edit: ok I dug it up, very weird. Roots are quite a bit more developed, just absolutely 0 topgrowth. I replanted it so the seed content is right above the soil, I guess now I wait and hope I didn't try to fix something that didn't need to be fixed 

[Vegan Potato Man]

How deep did you bury the seed? I would just bury the root and have the seed more or less just sit on top of the soil. A lot of tropicals will want to throw off the seed casing and I imagine burying the seed could cause problems with this. Can't remember if that is the case for abiu though.

Barely at all, probably an eighth of an inch. Still, things just don't seem right. Going to dig it up right now, hopefully the roots have grown since last time

edit: ok I dug it up, very weird. Roots are quite a bit more developed, just absolutely 0 topgrowth. I replanted it so the seed content is right above the soil, I guess now I wait and hope I didn't try to fix something that didn't need to be fixed 

Leave the poor thing alone...

More root disturbance = more stress

[Epicatt2]

I had a similar problem with abiu....  I got six fresh seeds from a member in Bradenton, FL area and planted them upon receipt in a 12-inch community pot.  Four germinated immediately  but two never did. 

The four that germinated grew like gangbusters and eventually I potted them into one gallon pots where they kept growing and soon needed to go into threes.  Then some months later three of them got big enough that they needed to go into five gallons. The fourth one had stopped growing and eventually died.

The three remaining ones grew well in the fives for a few months then just stopped growing when the weather cooled off in November.  After some below forty degree weather two of those stopped growing and dropped some of their leaves.  The last one held its leaves but also did not grow and gradually after the cold months passed and warm weather returned it just sat there losing a leaf now and then.

Now that last one sometimes tries to make a few small leaves but is not growing any more and I cannot figure out if it is still sulking from the past cold weather or there is something else cultural that it is lacking.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Paul M.
Tampa - Zone 9b
==

[tru]

Leave the poor thing alone...

More root disturbance = more stress

I definitely agree but for science! it feels necessary  + there's enough people that love abiu, I figure there will always be more seeds

[CarolinaZone]

Don't let them get much below 50F and don't let them dry out.

[tru]

Update!
if all else fails just repot and cross your fingers 

[Taylorhill]

Even my largest ones were very sensitive to cold! Just like Carolinazone said. Under 50f they start to look bad! Mine haven’t grown all winter.

[elouicious]

A small tip from personal experience tru-

plants almost always will focus on growing their roots before the above ground portion- particularly if there is not shade causing lighting problems

It is pretty standard to have a few months of stall after transplanting, especially in winter

[tru]

no all this growth happened after the transplant!
I started it in a 2.5inch pot and transplanted it when it was rootbound to a .5 gallon before it pushed for its first leaves, the stem that I was talking about in the original post is the withered bit under the new stem

Then when I posted later that I was gonna dig it up, I repotted in a 5 gallon with the seed part totally exposed and gave it life support treatment for 2 weeks .. new stem shortly after. voila! The plant who lived!

thanks fruit nerd, you may have made all the difference : )