Hi group,
I am new to this gardening thing and it appears I may have done something
wrong. Several weeks ago I started some seeds indoors, as I'm in zone 5 and
still getting frost at night. All of my seedlings are up but some are
getting very long and leggy looking. Some of them are starting to droop and
fold-over. Are they supposed to be this way? If not, what did I do wrong?
Anything I can do to correct the problem?

The seedlings are brocolli, brussels sprouts and various kinds of lettuce.

Thanks in advance for advice and/or comments.

Brigitte

"Brigitte J." wrote in message
...
Hi group,
I am new to this gardening thing and it appears I may have done something
wrong. Several weeks ago I started some seeds indoors, as I'm in zone 5
and
still getting frost at night. All of my seedlings are up but some are
getting very long and leggy looking. Some of them are starting to droop
and
fold-over. Are they supposed to be this way? If not, what did I do
wrong?
Anything I can do to correct the problem?

The seedlings are brocolli, brussels sprouts and various kinds of lettuce.

Thanks in advance for advice and/or comments.

Brigitte

Your seedlings are starving for sunlight. Is there any way you can take
them outside during the day?

"Elias Quinn" . wrote in message
...

"Brigitte J." wrote in message
...
Hi group,
I am new to this gardening thing and it appears I may have done
something
wrong. Several weeks ago I started some seeds indoors, as I'm in zone 5
and
still getting frost at night. All of my seedlings are up but some are
getting very long and leggy looking. Some of them are starting to droop
and
fold-over. Are they supposed to be this way? If not, what did I do
wrong?
Anything I can do to correct the problem?

The seedlings are brocolli, brussels sprouts and various kinds of
lettuce.

Thanks in advance for advice and/or comments.

Brigitte

Your seedlings are starving for sunlight. Is there any way you can take
them outside during the day?

Hi Elias,
Thanks for your quick response. Per your suggestion, I've put them all
outside. I'm doing this gardening thing this year with a friend who has
been putting her seedlings outdoors during the day, but it seems she's
having the same "leggy" problems I'm having. Is there something else we can
do to get them to recover? I have 2 seedlings per cell in the peat cells.
Would thinning them to one seedling per cell help? We were planning on
thinning them when we put them into the ground, so that we could utilize
both plants, but if we're sacrificing them for the sake of frugalness, that
would be a waste of time and energy, I suppose. Let me know your opinion on
this 2 per cell dilemma.

Thanks again,
Brigitte

Brigitte,

Being as you are in Zone 5, you do NOT want to set your seedlings out during
the daytime yet. Number one, seedlings need to be slowly acclimated (what
is commonly refered to as "hardened off") to the outside environment. This
is usually accomplished by setting outside for a small amount of time a day,
working your way up to the full day. Number two, our temperatures in Zone 5
are not yet warm enough for seedlings to survive being outside.

The optimum answer for you is to keep your seedlings in the brightest window
you have (or directly 1-2" below a flouresent light fixture would be ideal)
and turn them at least once a day. If you have a small fan, point it in the
direction of the plants so to provide them a slight breeze - this will help
harden them against the outside environment.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

As much as people on this newsgroup always try to be helpful, sometimes they
don't notice the zones where people are located and it can make all the
difference in the world.

Cheryl

Brigitte, it sounds as though your seedlings are simply starving for light.
They are "leggy" because they are putting their energy into getting
closer/more light. If you supply them with more light, then they will stop
"reaching". What type of light are you using? You really need some type of
HID lighting for indoor growing. But you can get by with flouro's as long
as you keep the flouro bulbs within an inch or so of the tops of your
plants. As a rule of thumb, I try to supply 50 watts of light per square
foot of growing space, ie, if you are trying to grow items indoors in a
2'x4' space, I would use 400watts of light. (8sq.ft * 50w/per = 400w)

If your plants get too leggy, they will fall over when they start growing,
or placed outside. In order to strengthen the stems, place an oscillating
fan near your plants on a low setting. This will simulate the natural
occuring gentle blowing winds outside. After a few weeks, the stems will be
nice and strong, ready to take on the great outdoors.
good luck,
Matt


"Brigitte J." wrote in message
...
Hi group,
I am new to this gardening thing and it appears I may have done something
wrong. Several weeks ago I started some seeds indoors, as I'm in zone 5
and
still getting frost at night. All of my seedlings are up but some are
getting very long and leggy looking. Some of them are starting to droop
and
fold-over. Are they supposed to be this way? If not, what did I do
wrong?
Anything I can do to correct the problem?

The seedlings are brocolli, brussels sprouts and various kinds of lettuce.

Thanks in advance for advice and/or comments.

Brigitte