Can you post a photo?

Usually, if your seedlings are leggy, they're reaching for more light.

IMO, it can become a problem. Legginess is generally defined as above normal space between nodes or stems. There, AFAIK, is not a defined distance they should be, but two-three inches in a small pla-nt is way too much!

If they get leggy, then when you transplant them or even set them outside to harden them off, a strong breeze can snap them. But presuming you manage to harden them off, then you can always trench the transplants so basically only the top of the seed-ling is sticking out of the ground (or use a post hole digger!).

YMMV,

Mike

Leggy plants are weak stemmed, have stretched and narrowed circulatory system, have difficulty (if not impossible) to hold up the head especially once true leaves develop, roots have difficulty supporting the top growth, etc. so yes it is a problem. They can often be salvaged but health of the plant overall may be compromised so it is something to be avoided if at all possible.

Main problem is if they are leggy already then how weak and lanky will they be come plant out time in your zone? It is what 8 weeks away?

Picture is worth lots of words (check out the pic I found on Google below) but the best description I can come up with is if there is 3x more stem than cotyledon it's leggy, if the stem is too weak to even hold the cotyledons (seed leaves) up straight it is leggy, if the cell or pot looks like it has a long skinny pink stick growing up out of it with 2 tiny green leaves on the end of it then it is leggy. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful:

Dave,

As I'm sure you know (!) but for others, leggy plan-ts eight weeks before planting is no problem. They can be transplanted and almost all of the stem buried in pot-ting mix. That can even be better for the seedling, since it will grow roots along the entire stem.

Mike

True Mike but it depends on how old they are now - 10 days or 6 weeks with 8 weeks to go? ;)

And you have to fix the insufficient lighting problem. Otherwise they will just get leggy all over again. There's the rub. ;)

Dave

Somebody's going to yell at me (digdirt?), and probably for good reason. But I was actually considering growing some leggy transplants on purpose, so I could experiment with drilling deep holes, and transplanting deeply. Not that I think depriving a plant of light to make it leggy is a good idea. But maybe for just a little while? Go ahead. Yell at me. I deserve it:) Btw, is there any research showing that a leggy plant, that was later given more light, maybe halfway through it's initial 6-8 week growing phase, was actually less productive than a stocky plant that was always given plenty of light? I suppose growing it in a deeper pot would make more sense though.

Nope. No Yelling from me. Experimentation is the key to experience and that's the best teacher. That's the way we all learned one time or another so if you have the time and the space go for it. Just keep some good notes on what all you learn.

Dave

Wow. Thanks for the response. If someone can tell me how to post a pic I'll try to do that. For now let me say the plants have no problem supporting the top growth. When the sun is actually shining..the plants see sun from 730 am until 5pm via a window in my house. As a result they lean towards the outside. To counteract this I switch the orientation daily. (it is amazing to see them adapt daily) A few of the plants are 5-7 inches tall with more than a dozen leaves (cherryÂs and early girls)
I do have all of April and most of May to get through before I put them outside but I intend to put them in my patio enclosure in pots in mid April. On sunny 60 degree days the patio gets a hot as 80 degrees with about 6 hours of sun. This is my bridge strategy before I eventually put them in the ground outside in mid May.
My big boys are the ones that are starting to concern me. Some of the lower leave have yellowed/browned and fallen off. A few of the leaves has some very small yellow spots.
I should say that the BB seeds came from last years crop. A crop that somehow survived LB.

matthew: You picked a touchy subject with some people here. ;-) I'll quote Dave on this one, "Experimentation is the key to experience and that's the best teacher. That's the way we all learned one time or another so if you have the time and the space go for it. Just keep some good notes on what all you learn."

If you get somewhat leggy tomato plants (nothing like the crazy 3 branches for 3 ft tall plant like you see on the web), there are many ways to resolve it. Some people even grow their plants leggy on purpose so that they can, in the future, bury more of the sstem to have a more vast root system. Anyways, it's all a matter of opinion to a point, as far as i'm concerned.

- Steve

thanks steve..as long as it doesnt kill the plants outright I think I'll experiment and see what happens. Thanks to all for responding to my post.

You can also take cuttings and make clones as long as you provide more light after rooting. I don't get leggy plants but I always start them too early and have to top them because of the height. I'm never 'short' on plants. lol

lol...good one taz. ;-)

Big deal? No way. Plant so everything but the top couple of inchest are in the ground and watch them take off. You give them as much light as you can, but don't make a career out of lighting. You don't have to. They will be all right. Be happy and optomistic. Your plants will notice your attitude. Don't look for problems where none can really be found. Above all, enjoy your garden. steve

I measured my plants today. The range from 6-9.5 inchs tall They all have a 2-3 inch distance between the ground and first leaves. They look healthy with lots of leaves. They are early girls, cherrys and big boys. I do have another 8 pak of seedlings that are all about 2-3 inchs big. They are tiny compared to the plants I have in the 4 inch high x 4 inch wide pots. That is where all the big action is!