I walked into my rice nursery bed expecting to see fresh green rows full of life, instead I was greeted by a disappointing sight-yellowing leaves with weak roots, dry, and cracked soil a clear sign that something was definitely wrong.

This wasn't how I pictured the start to my rice farming season

🌾 A Tough Start

This isn't the kind of start that I want right now, and it has created an urgency in me to quickly fix things before the seedlings move to the farm, so I highlighted three possible causes of this so that I can calmly come up with solutions that will be effective for the seedlings.

🔍 What Went Wrong?

1. Dry, Cracked Soil

The most visible cause is that the ground was dry and cracked. However, rainfall has been relatively okay for this period of their growth. The soil on which the seedlings were planted does not retain water for long; the soil is more clay than it is loamy, so within hours after rainfall, the ground is dry already.

This was a big mistake on my part and the reason behind this decision is that rice seedlings don't grow on waterlogged grounds so the best thing was to plant on a moderately wet ground

2. Nutrient Deficiency

The nutrients in soil like this are normally not sufficient for rice, and the space between each of the rice seedlings is so small that it would take a lot of struggle to access adequate nutrients.

3. Weak Root Systems

The dry soil makes it difficult for the roots to penetrate the ground and access the deep parts of the soil to access nutrients and water, which are the most essential things.

🌱 What I’ve Learned

✅ Keep Soil Moist at All

The soil has to be moist at all times, and the moment I noticed that it would be difficult to do so on a soil like this, I decided not to make the mistake of using that land for my nursery bed next year.

✅ Prepare the Bed with Organic Matter

This will naturally increase the soil's nutrients, and I can do that while I am making the nursery beds to ensure it fully gets into the soil.

✅ Monitor Early Signs

It is very important to monitor a lot of things as a farmer, which is a key sign of a good farmer.

💡 Moving Forward

I have to water it manually at this stage since the rainfall is not every day, I can't add nutrients to prevent the roots from becoming weak since the plan is to transplant the seedlings to the farm within two weeks.

I will just keep observing everything for now.