Prevention: Check every day and don’t let them get dry. If you suspect poor light is a contributing factor to your leggy seedlings, turn them around daily so they grow up straight instead of bent. This means they can’t access the nutrients they need, so end up starving. The last thing I do when starting seeds is to have a small fan, mine is 3, blowing gently on them. So as the plant grows, make sure the plant height from the light remains the same. As the seeds sprout, you want to keep the light between 3-5 above the uppermost leaves. If you forget to water, seedlings wilt quickly. You’ll want to hang that light so that it’s adjustable. Prevention: Buy good-quality compost – worth its weight in gold. Without the correct nutrition, seedlings become leggy even if light levels, etc, are good. ![]() Poor seed sowing compostĬheap or old compost saves you nothing in the end. The seeds will grow stronger and more quickly. Then over a few days move them into more and more direct sunlight. Move them to an area that gets more light than they had inside, morning sun is best since it’s less harsh. If you move them from inside to outside as we did, direct sunlight can be a little harsh at first. Prevention: Wait a month to make use of lengthening natural daylight. In general, seedlings do best when they can get 12+ hours of light per day. Without a grow light or propagator, you’re likely to fall victim to the above. Use some aluminium foil or white reflective material behind seed trays to maximise light levels. Seedlings will naturally lean towards the light, especially on a windowsill, so turn every day. Prevention: Sow later or invest in a grow lamp. You can use a light meter like this one to help determine if your indoor plant needs more light. They are literally struggling upwards to get as much light as possible, then the stems become so weak they can’t support the leaves. Lack of Light Are your indoor plants getting enough light This is one of the main causes of a leggy plant. The most common cause if you sow too early. Tomatillos repotted with the stems well buried Too little light Prevention: Always sow at the temperature recommended on the packet – too hot can be as damaging as too cold. They put on an unnatural growth spurt, stretching up to reach the light. On todays video we will be starting an experiment on our leggy broccoli seedlings to see if they grow roots up the stem when transplanting deep into soil. They were fine but the tomatillos I sowed in the same propagator became leggy. One thing I fell foul of was growing super hot chillies which needed to be started early at a high temperature. Maybe you’ve just bought a heated propagator. The top three here almost always linked and happen usually to eager beavers who can’t wait to get started. These are the main causes of weak, elongated stems: Too much heat You see here my tomatillo seedlings, which quickly flopped but came through in the end. ![]() ![]() It happens to the most experienced gardeners, especially if you’re trying something new. they did survive Or prevent it from happening in the first placeĭisaster – your carefully nurtured seedlings have turned into drawn, thin, spindly beings, all pale stem and hardly any leaves.
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