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Symptom

Slow or stunted growth

Growth needs light, warmth, water and nutrients reaching healthy roots. When one is missing the plant stalls. Pests at the roots and viruses stunt plants too.

Compare with the season and with neighbouring plants. If everything is slow, suspect temperature or light; if one plant, suspect its roots.

Likely causes

Ordered from the usual answer to the less likely one. Each links to the full problem.

  1. Pale yellow lower leaves on a slow-growing plant Soil & nutrients Common

    Nitrogen deficiency

    Pale, small leaves; oldest yellow first.
  2. Pale, leggy seedlings stretching towards a window Light & temperature Common

    Too little light

    Stretched, pale, leaning growth.
  3. Blackened, frost-damaged shoot tips on a young plant Light & temperature Possible

    Cold and frost damage

    Early in the season, in cold soil.
  4. A newly planted seedling drooping in fresh soil Damage Possible

    Transplant shock

    In the weeks after planting.
  5. Forked and misshapen carrots on the soil Damage Possible

    Root damage

    Pot-bound or damaged roots.
  6. A snake plant with soft, yellowing leaves collapsing in soggy compost Watering Possible

    Overwatering

    Wet compost, yellowing leaves.
  7. A soil pH test kit beside a garden bed Soil & nutrients Possible

    Wrong soil pH

    Deficiency signs that feeding does not fix.
  8. A colony of green aphids on the underside of a leaf Pest Less likely

    Aphids

    Colonies on the tips stall growth.
  9. A cabbage root swollen into knobbly clubs Fungal disease Less likely

    Clubroot

    Brassicas stunted with swollen roots.
  10. Small dark fungus gnats on houseplant compost Pest Less likely

    Fungus gnats

    Seedlings stalled; larvae in wet compost.
  11. A courgette leaf with yellow-green mosaic mottling Viral disease Less likely

    Cucumber mosaic virus

    Stunted, mottled plants.