Onion Seedlings (4 weeks)

After four weeks, the onions look virtually the same as they did at 2 weeks. Their growth has slowed and I have not had to trim them back. The watering pan idea is still working, however, it is bringing my inability to assess acceptable moisture levels correctly to light.  While the best thing would probably be to monitor moisture somehow in the soil under standard conditions (i.e. room temperature and under the constant presence of a fan) and then test at what water level in the pan produces happy plants, for now, I am just going to try to select a level in the pan to fill up once a week and monitor.

Also, (and I must mention I feel pretty stupid about this), I just realized that my Espoma potting soil mix DOES NOT contain fertilizer. I don't know why I ignored this, but I just watered them with a half dose of Miraclegro. I didn't really want to go that way, but I am hoping it gives me a week to find a good fertilizer I like. So, this means that 1. I am over watering or 2. There is a lack of Nitrogen because there was nothing for the seedlings to eat.

I have lost some plants due to fungus (Dampening-off, or what I call "consumption" for plants), and my over watering is causing some of the tips of the onions to yellow. As with the previous years, the tips that are yellowing eventually die, but the onion will shoot another "leg" up to compensate for this loss. I don't know if this takes up a lot of energy in which the plant could be using to fatten itself up or work on root structure.

Yellowing stems due to over watering or lack of nitrogen (or both)