Is this a new bed? Did you use any fertilizer? What is the soil, is it sandy? Are they getting enough water and sun? You should be ok for okra and zinnia but the summer might get too hot for San Diego, might want to grow beans over the winter. You could ask in the California forum.

happy day,

It is a new bed, new topsoil. I haven't used fertilizer yet, they're seedlings. The soil is sandy loam. They got plenty of water and sun. I honestly think that they just took too long to germimate and thus came up looking sick. Beans aren't supposed to take two weeks.

Why would you not put any fertilizer into a new bed of new topsoil, before putting in new seedlings?

Where did you get your topsoil from? Has it been treated? Did you do a soil test on it?

Because it had rotten stuff (leaves etc) for years and I'm sure it has enough nutrients for seeds to start off in..and of course now I'm not gonna fertilize before seeds even emerge. Once things get going, of course I will fertilize. No soil test, although that is a good idea. I don't have any money so I'm doing a poor man's garden.

Z

In what way is the topsoil new? Did you purchase it from a company that supplies soil for lawns? If so it could have been pre-treated with a broad leaf herbicide to kill weeds.

I don't think it's treated. Anyway, most have told them that do to being chilly still at night and thus wet longer, the leaves came out yellow. They are greening up now. I also started some other seeds via the "baggie method" to replace the once that didn't come up or got eaten.

The beans came out of of it. They got greener and the leaves straightened out for the most part. I put some DM around to get rid of earwigs. I'm hoping it's working at least a little bit.
The Okra greened up too for the most part but the earwigs/slugs have decimated the foliage. We will see what happens.

Z