Leggy Cauliflower seedlings
sakhiya
15 years ago
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sakhiya
15 years agoRelated Discussions
cauliflower seedling stems purplish
Comments (1)Depends on the variety? I have a red Cabbage that has a purple stem and leaves with purple on them....See Morestunted peppers and leggy broccoli seedlings
Comments (15)Agree - the lights are WAY too far away from the plants. 1-2" is the standard recommendation. And you can't compare pepper growth to tomato growth. Tomatoes grow 3x faster than peppers. Peppers are quite slow growing which is why they are started 8-12 weeks before transplanting while tomatoes are normally started 6-8 weeks before transplanting. In addition to far away lights and over-crowding, excessively warm air temps can contribute to legginess. Heat is needed for germination but cooler temps are preferred for growing - 65 degrees max, is ideal. Since peppers are normally planted out at least 2 weeks after tomatoes you still have plenty of time in your zone for the peppers to grow - like 4-6 weeks anyway. Dave...See MoreLeggy seedlings
Comments (2)Hi, bug - although I'm new to Upstate SC, I'm in a zone 7, probably similar to your conditions. You will always be better off starting seeds outside to cut down on the legginess - but the heat is another matter. I have cabbage & Swiss chard started, and I don't think it's too late to do those or broccoli or cauliflower. Both of them can take a little frost. I would summer sow them in containers outdoors, in the shade - I haven't been using lids at all on the ones I've started. I've had good germination, but mixed success overall as I believe I am growing some of these things as bug food, LOL. I had the same experience with lettuce - no germination on normal types - my mesclun mixes have had some germination, again, only to become bug food. I think it is too hot for lettuce right now - I'm going to try again in another couple of weeks. Good luck!...See MoreLeggy Broccoli Seedlings
Comments (7)Broccoli seedlings get leggy when they are grown at temperatures warmer than what is ideal for them and/or when grown too far from the lights or a combination of both. They have a tendency to get leggy because most humans grow them at an indoor temperature that feels good to us humans but which feels hot to the cole crops. While most seedlings grow fine at 60 to 65 degrees, I've found broccoli does better if grown at 50-55 degrees. Since my seed-starting room stays warmer than that, I move broccoli outside the day it pops up out of the soil-less mix, and then move it back indoors at night. Keeping it outside in generally cooler temperatures (well, except for this year when it has gotten too hot too early ) helps prevent the legginess. Also, having the light 2 to 3" away encourages legginess. I keep the lights so close to the plants that you can't stick your finger between the light and the tallest plant, so maybe 1/4" away or less. That helps keep down the legginess too. You can repot them deeper and they'll be fine, but do try to get them cooler air or they'll keep growing too fast and stretching because of the "heat". To a lesser extent cauliflower is the same way and so is cabbage, although it seems to me that cabbage doesn't stretch as much as broccoli does under identical conditions. I don't start many non-cole crops in the same flat as broccoli because of the cole crops' need for cooler temps, but lettuce likes the cooler temps too so I often seed them in the same flat as the broc. I try to put broccoli plants in the ground when they have 3 to 5 leaves, which is about when they're 3 to 5" tall. If you hold them in containers longer than that, they often bolt not long after they're transplanted, or they stunt or stall, or they look fine but give you buttonheads. Broccoli is really a garden diva and wants everything 'just so'....See Moremacheske
15 years agosakhiya
15 years agowayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
15 years agoRojith_mathew_gmail_com
13 years ago
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