Subject: Re: Seedling help

From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 26 Mar 1995 13:13:23 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Holowati) writes: 

>
>I have started seedlings (Zinnias, violets, cosmos, black eyed susans)  in
>small pots, but they have germinated and grown suddenly tall and spindly. 
>I am afraid they are going to fall over and die.  What might I be doing
>wrong?  I have them in a sunny window and am keeping the soil moist.  I
>used Black Gold potting medium.  
>

Fertilize and pinch back.

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (Holowati)
Date: 25 Mar 1995 22:32:36 -0500

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 27 Mar 95 19:15:37 -0600

> used Black Gold potting medium.  

You probably need more light for your seedlings than they are getting
(even in a sunny window)!  You might consider some supplemental 
fluorescent lighting.  Also, make sure the seedlings get some 
mechanical disturbance a couple of times a day.  Blow at them
if you're timid about thinking they'll die if you touch them, or
brush your fingers gently through the plants a couple of times a 
day.  You just want to bend the stems slightly, not break them.
This mechanical disturbance turns on the process of making the
strengthening tissues of the stem (collenchyma and wood).

Other reasons for "leggy" (=non-thrifty =too-tall and spindly) 
seedlings include too warm a growing temperature and too much
fertilizer, especially nitrogen.

Kay Klier  [email-masked]