Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi grapes,
last Saturday i planted some purple sprouting seeds (summer variety) they germinated very quickly (3 days) when the germinated i removed them from the windowsill propagator and they have apparently gone leggy.
Can i transplant them and plant them a little deeper or should i just abandon them and do some more.
How do i stop them going so leggy?

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VICKI
Yes you can transplant them and plant them deeper, you can do this with brassica's and tomatoes, they have gone leggy looking for light just having the lid on the propogator a bit to long can do this I tend to leave the lid off and just give the seeds bottom heat.

Do you do this right from sowing or from when the seedlings begin to appear.

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Too much warmth and not enough bright light. Seedlings always grow towards the light and if it is warm they grow very fast - real problem on indoor windowsills. General rule is once they have germinated reduce the heat and increase the light. Brassicas are quite hardy and once germinated can go into a cold greenhouse or coldframe. When pricking out or transplanting put them in so that the lowest pair of leaves are at soil level.

Thanks RL will do that tomorrow- i have a spare afternoon as my lesson is cancelled tomoz. I was so disappointed! (NOT) Now i can to do some pricking out. (Yeeh!)

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RL would i be better off sowing my seeds in the unheated propogater in the unheated greenhouse or would it be too cold.

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VICKI
I have started doing this right from sowing unless it is really freezing as I usually have more than one thing at differant stages of growth in the same propogator

If you look on the seed packets they should give you an ideal germination temperature. I only use a heated propagator for things like tomatoes, peppers, marrows etc. If you're growing things like cabbages, onions etc they don't need as much heat (in fact lettuce won't germinate if the soil temperature is too high). About 7 degrees C will allow most hardy veg seeds to germinate well, so if there's no hard frost forecast an unheated greenhouse should do. Either that, or a windowsill in the house, and then outside as soon as they've shown their little faces.

Hello VickiL, January is very early to be planting seeds because that's the kind of problem you run into, as they get too much heat and not enough light indoors. But with a bit of expertise it can be done. Go with Rustylady and see what you can rescue. If all all fails there's plenty of time to plant again.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Thanks alice.
The packet did say January. But i only sowed a few just in case. I was planning to sow some more around 19 Feb.
Will transplant these though and see what happens.

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Hi - if you intend to keep your seedlings growing indoors on a window ledge for the time being, here is a useful tip which was passed on to me a couple of years ago. Cut a shoebox or similar in half diagonally, and line the inside completely with kitchen foil. Put the pots of seedlings in it, and place it so that the long inside back of the box faces the window. This way it reflects the light all round, and the seedlings do not become leggy, and do not bend towards the light.

That sounds like an excellent idea Marylou. Will try that!

I like that idea - must check if I have any suitable boxes in the shed. They won't be shoe boxes though - haven't bought any in a while!

Tricia