Stretching seedlings!

[Gruntus]

Hi all, after years of growing bagseed and other hand-me-downs I finally ordered some (I hope) good genetics from DS. I tried just three seeds to start with and all germinated in 24 hours. I transferred these to jiffy pots and a day later they had popped up. The day after that they had all stretched up by 6cm or so! Worried that they were getting too thin and top-heavy I put the jiffy's into some plastic cups and filled over them with potting mix. Two days later they're still stretching (the tallest is maybe 10cm above the potting mix). I've been careful not to overwater. I don't know why they're doing this or even if it's bad but I've seen this behaviour in the past and frequently the stems get too weak and the whole plant collapses.

 

I've attached an image. It's all very low-tech (they're currently sitting inside my kitchen window) so I was wondering if there's anything I should be doing. Just overprotective of the seeds I guess..

 

Any ideas appreciated. Ta, G

[brick]

How far away is your light? Stretching is mostly caused by the light being too far away from the plant.

Love the "Pig of Steel"

[Parkesy]

Hey gruntus, I've had the same thing happen to most of mine too. I reckon it's from too little light and too much humidity, but mostly not having a gentle breeze blowing on them. I'd leave my seedlings in the greenhouse hatchery thingy for a few days after sprouting but nearly all had really thin stems like yours. I lost one because it was just so week the stem disintegrated, and a couple of the others Im currently having to prop.

My suggestion (and it could be wrong, I'm a newbie) would be get as much light on them as possible without burning them and get a small desk fan to circulate air and get them swaying gently. They can be bought at a bunnings for 10$ and should thicken them up.

[Reverend]

When you repot just pot them in deeper, and if thats bark in your soil get rid of it, also as brick says they need light, sitting on top of a window sill wont help.

[templedog]

yep the light indoor strains very light hungry i would prop em with a skewer or something and tie em as well as lo light sometimes temp can be a problem depends goodluk TD

[Gruntus]

Too much humidity, too little light, no breeze.. yup, that's my kitchen.

They're all outdoor strains but I didn't want to rush them out too soon as they're not even a week old yet.

 

If I get them in the garden soon can anyone recommend measures to make it a gentle transition for them. It's currently 34oC in Adelaide!

 

Thanks for all the generous replies!

[makaira indica]

hey

id be transplanting so they are deeper

then weening them onto full sun

ive always used shade cloth and wen not available

id just use a spot that only got a few hours direct sun

after 4 or 5 days bring them out to get a few more hours sun

 

other than that get a wee cupboard with a fluoro in close

all the best

MI

[IAMTHEMANOHYEAH]

Should of just started them out there an cut the bottem off of a 1.25l bottle and put it over the top

[The Hash Nibbler]

Those Girls sure got some long legs..............

 

Should of just started them out there an cut the bottem off of a 1.25l bottle and put it over the top

 

Yeah, there's nothing like cooking seedlings outside in 34c heat in a homemade oven. .

 

Hey Gruntus, I agree with Rev and Makaira , Just plant em deeper with a repot. had to do that a few times in the past, they don't mind it.

130w 14,000K CFL is great to get these little buggers off to a good start as Makaira said, cheap to run too. Gh72

[IAMTHEMANOHYEAH]

Those Girls sure got some long legs..............

 

Should of just started them out there an cut the bottem off of a 1.25l bottle and put it over the top

 

i think its prity obvious that you take it off on those kinds of days it doesnt take a scientist to work that out

Yeah, there's nothing like cooking seedlings outside in 34c heat in a homemade oven. .

 

Hey Gruntus, I agree with Rev and Makaira , Just plant em deeper with a repot. had to do that a few times in the past, they don't mind it.

130w 14,000K CFL is great to get these little buggers off to a good start as Makaira said, cheap to run too. Gh72