Hi,

I've planted some cornflower seeds in a seed tray, with general purpose
compost, watering when needed. They came up pretty quickly (within 4 days)
and are now about 4" tall, however they seem to have very droopy stems, is
ths normal? Do I need to support them with anything, or will they strengthen
over time?

Any help appreciated

Ben

"Ben" wrote

I've planted some cornflower seeds in a seed tray, with general purpose
compost, watering when needed. They came up pretty quickly (within 4 days)
and are now about 4" tall, however they seem to have very droopy stems, is
ths normal? Do I need to support them with anything, or will they
strengthen
over time?

I would have thought it a little early to plant seeds, however, it is
probably lack of light that is causing the problem.
Give them as much light as possible and they should thicken up although they
may be permanently bent now.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

In message , Ben
writes
Hi,

I've planted some cornflower seeds in a seed tray, with general purpose
compost, watering when needed. They came up pretty quickly (within 4 days)
and are now about 4" tall, however they seem to have very droopy stems, is
ths normal? Do I need to support them with anything, or will they strengthen
over time?

You may have a problem this year but next year they should seed
themselves and be fine. Mine grow like weeds
--
June Hughes

Ben wrote:
Hi,

I've planted some cornflower seeds in a seed tray, with general
purpose compost, watering when needed. They came up pretty quickly
(within 4 days) and are now about 4" tall, however they seem to have
very droopy stems, is ths normal? Do I need to support them with
anything, or will they strengthen over time?

Any help appreciated

Ben

We had an item on a popular science tv programme called Tomorrow's World in
the UK some years back and some scientists thought that plants grown in an
environment without air movement might have been a problem so the plants
became 'drawn'.

Maybe ?

It would be an interesting experiment to do what the presenters did and that
was to move the tips of the fingers lightly over one tray of small plants
and leave another one.


Richard.

I've planted some cornflower seeds in a seed tray, with general purpose
compost, watering when needed. They came up pretty quickly (within 4 days)
and are now about 4" tall, however they seem to have very droopy stems, is
ths normal? Do I need to support them with anything, or will they strengthen
over time?


A lot of warmth and low light leads to leggy seedlings.
Think about it, because of the warmth they think its spring/summer and
are racing to reach the sun. But there is very little light around at
this time of year, however hard they try to reach it. Here are a few
tips to rescue them / stop this from happening in the future.

Sow thinly - reduces competition for light.
When filling pot with compost fill to just shy of rim - shadow cast by
pot edge WILL affect the amount of light seedlings are getting.
If your leggy seedlings are not too fragile you can prick them out and
when resoilifying (made up word in w-bush style)bury them deep so that
the soil comes a way up their flimsy stems and acts as a support (this
deffo works for toms anyway so guess it will for other seedlings too).
Put seedlings where they'll get as much light as possible - right next
to a bright window is fine, but turn the tray/pot around each day so
that they arent stretching one way all the time.
sarah a

Hi Sahara,

Thanks for the reply. I've brought a green house, which I've now put outside
in a sunny spot. I think the central heating may have been causing a
problem, as you said.

Cheers

Ben

"sahara" wrote in message
om...
I've planted some cornflower seeds in a seed tray, with general purpose
compost, watering when needed. They came up pretty quickly (within 4
days)
and are now about 4" tall, however they seem to have very droopy stems,
is
ths normal? Do I need to support them with anything, or will they
strengthen
over time?


A lot of warmth and low light leads to leggy seedlings.
Think about it, because of the warmth they think its spring/summer and
are racing to reach the sun. But there is very little light around at
this time of year, however hard they try to reach it. Here are a few
tips to rescue them / stop this from happening in the future.

Sow thinly - reduces competition for light.
When filling pot with compost fill to just shy of rim - shadow cast by
pot edge WILL affect the amount of light seedlings are getting.
If your leggy seedlings are not too fragile you can prick them out and
when resoilifying (made up word in w-bush style)bury them deep so that
the soil comes a way up their flimsy stems and acts as a support (this
deffo works for toms anyway so guess it will for other seedlings too).
Put seedlings where they'll get as much light as possible - right next
to a bright window is fine, but turn the tray/pot around each day so
that they arent stretching one way all the time.
sarah a