Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003 17:40:27 -0800, "Jessica"
wrote:

Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.


When you go to look at the tomato plants/plantlets ;-) at Home Depot
at Lowe's you'll see a good example of leggy. The stem gets tall.
lots of distance between soil level and the leaves in proportion to
the size of the plant.

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003 17:40:27 -0800, "Jessica"
wrote:

Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.


A long (croiked) stem from the soil line to the first leaves,
generally due to insufficient light.

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003 17:40:27 -0800, "Jessica"
wrote:

Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.


A long (croiked) stem from the soil line to the first leaves,
generally due to insufficient light.



Looks good on humans, not plants.

"Woo hoo wouldja take a look at those getaway sticks!"


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TAKETHISOUT budysbackagain(@)THAT TOO a-oh-ell dot com

Jessica wrote:

Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.

Long stem, usually with just cotyledons and no first set of leaves.
Caused by lack of light. Bad, because most of the energy reserves
have been spent without producing useful growth.

zhanataya wrote:

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003 17:40:27 -0800, "Jessica"
wrote:

Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.


When you go to look at the tomato plants/plantlets ;-) at Home Depot
at Lowe's you'll see a good example of leggy. The stem gets tall.
lots of distance between soil level and the leaves in proportion to
the size of the plant.

Leggy tomatoes aren't completely beyond salvation. Plant them deep, and
they'll grow roots along the buried stem. Consider that even with healthy
plants, you'll usually pinch off all but the top leaves and plant them
horizontally.

On Thu, 03 Apr 2003 20:51:48 -0800, "Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D. P.A."
wrote:

zhanataya wrote:

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003 17:40:27 -0800, "Jessica"
wrote:

Just curious what a 'leggy' seedling looks like. I don't understand the
term.


When you go to look at the tomato plants/plantlets ;-) at Home Depot
at Lowe's you'll see a good example of leggy. The stem gets tall.
lots of distance between soil level and the leaves in proportion to
the size of the plant.

Leggy tomatoes aren't completely beyond salvation. Plant them deep, and
they'll grow roots along the buried stem. Consider that even with healthy
plants, you'll usually pinch off all but the top leaves and plant them
horizontally.


I was just making a comparison as to what leggy looks like. As for
planting I haven't had such good luck with planting deep. I make a
trench and lay them on their side, bury it all except the top couple
inches. I could have had the deeper soil too wet though.

zhan

zhanataya wrote:

I was just making a comparison as to what leggy looks like. As for
planting I haven't had such good luck with planting deep. I make a
trench and lay them on their side, bury it all except the top couple
inches. I could have had the deeper soil too wet though.

zhan


My tomatoes are always leggy by the time I set them out. By the time
the danger of frost is over, the ground is warm. I set the tomato
plants in deep holes -- post holes; and I do not remove the lower
leaves, I just bury them. The plants take off with rapid sturdy growth
in just a couple of days. If your ground is still cool or wet, a trench
is probably better, but I would not remove the lower leaves.

Best regards,
Bob

On Fri, 04 Apr 2003 00:45:16 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:



My tomatoes are always leggy by the time I set them out. By the time
the danger of frost is over, the ground is warm. I set the tomato
plants in deep holes -- post holes; and I do not remove the lower
leaves, I just bury them. The plants take off with rapid sturdy growth
in just a couple of days. If your ground is still cool or wet, a trench
is probably better, but I would not remove the lower leaves.

I plant deep, but i do not pull off any leaves. I did that once and i
dont know if it was the weather or the pulling of the leaves, but i
didnt have a real good crop that year. I have 12 going right now. At
least 10 that are here for the duration.

jammer wrote:

On Fri, 04 Apr 2003 00:45:16 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:



My tomatoes are always leggy by the time I set them out. By the time
the danger of frost is over, the ground is warm. I set the tomato
plants in deep holes -- post holes; and I do not remove the lower
leaves, I just bury them. The plants take off with rapid sturdy growth
in just a couple of days. If your ground is still cool or wet, a trench
is probably better, but I would not remove the lower leaves.

I plant deep, but i do not pull off any leaves. I did that once and i
dont know if it was the weather or the pulling of the leaves, but i
didnt have a real good crop that year. I have 12 going right now. At
least 10 that are here for the duration.


Tomatoes will get leggy if (1) they don't get enought light or (2) they
are crowded in flats before planting or (3) they are in small cells.
Planting deep works, but they get set back a few days just by getting
leggy. Best to get them started in flats, then transplant them into pots
for further growth. Space the pots apart so they have enough light
getting to the sides of the plant and they won't get so leggy (although
they do like to grow upwards). I start my tomatoes in a 288 tray,
transplant them to a 72 tray and finally to 4" pots. That seems to give
them enough soil to encourage root development. Since tomatoes are
vines, they will put down roots along the stem if they grow along the
ground. If they are in too small a cell without enough soil they will
try to push the vine out to get to another spot where there might be
better conditions.

Another trick is to brush them regularly. Frequent mechanical
stimulation strengthens the stems and keeps the plants stocky. This can
be done by just running your hand over the plants to bend them
(slightly) back and forth, as if there were a wind blowing. Do this
twice a day. I have tried putting them in a spot where a fan blows at
them all day, but this doesn't seem to do as well as a twice a day
brushing.

If you have too many tomato plants and want to know which ones to plant,
choose the ones with thicker stems (they will resist windy periods
better) assuming other aspects of the plant health are equal.

Dwight Sipler wrote:

Tomatoes will get leggy if (1) they don't get enought light or (2) they
are crowded in flats before planting or (3) they are in small cells.
Planting deep works, but they get set back a few days just by getting
leggy. Best to get them started in flats, then transplant them into pots
for further growth. Space the pots apart so they have enough light
getting to the sides of the plant and they won't get so leggy (although
they do like to grow upwards). I start my tomatoes in a 288 tray,
transplant them to a 72 tray and finally to 4" pots. That seems to give
them enough soil to encourage root development. Since tomatoes are
vines, they will put down roots along the stem if they grow along the
ground. If they are in too small a cell without enough soil they will
try to push the vine out to get to another spot where there might be
better conditions.

My tomatoes get leggy in 4" and 6" pots because my light room gets too
warm in mid-May, and no amount of indoor light is enough when it's 95
degrees. I'm gonna try to get a little greenhouse set up this month so
I can get the plants outside while they are still stocky.

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

...My tomatoes get leggy in 4" and 6" pots because my light room gets too
warm in mid-May, and no amount of indoor light is enough when it's 95
degrees. I'm gonna try to get a little greenhouse set up this month so
I can get the plants outside while they are still stocky.



That's certainly something I didn't mention. I try to keep my greenhouse
below 60F and heat the roots.

I think a greenhouse fan is essential. You can cool the greenhouse with
vents alone, but when the mornings are cold and the days are sunny you
might not want to open the vents first thing in the morning when you go
to work. Manual venting requires someone to be there. The fan can be
automated more cheaply than the vents.

On Fri, 04 Apr 2003 07:04:32 -0500, Dwight Sipler
wrote:

Another trick is to brush them regularly. Frequent mechanical
stimulation strengthens the stems and keeps the plants stocky. This can
be done by just running your hand over the plants to bend them
(slightly) back and forth, as if there were a wind blowing.

This works well, btw.

On Fri, 04 Apr 2003 12:05:02 -0500, Dwight Sipler
wrote:


That's certainly something I didn't mention. I try to keep my greenhouse
below 60F and heat the roots.

I nearly lost every last plant when i left them in the mini greenhouse
and it got too hot. Just a short while of fresh air revived them. They
are all in the ground and looking very good. My cantalopes are growing
like crazy. I have watermelon seeds germinating, but i haven't dug out
a place for them yet.