Thanks for the explanation! I tried again and I managed to grow the population. With one color its nice as a background game. Just listen for when the Dum Dees start dying and then check in on them and give them another flower. Not the most ethical way to take care of them but it works and its fun to see the population slowly grow.
And I think it would be totally fair to add an extra paragraph to the tutorial. Maybe in a separate second tutorial step. If an issue makes the game unplayable or impossible to understand that would fall within the spirit of fixing a critical game breaking bug. And its still within the first 24 hours after the submission period ended, like the rules state. Anyway its up to you.