Leggy Seedlings 101

Ah the joys of starting seedlings indoors! You plant those innocent seeds, anticipating a lush garden, and then reality hits: leggy seedlings. What gives?! You’ve given them all they need to survive and they reward you with an extra long stem that won’t hold up to any wind or rain when it lives outside. Rude! Let’s dive in to why some seedlings decide to grow stems longer than they can keep up with.

Light

These little drama queen seedlings just want some light! They reach and reach to get MORE light because it’s what they need to grow. The problem is that maybe they aren’t getting enough light which causes them to stretch their little stems longer to reach that light.

Unfortunately a sunny window isn’t usually enough light for little seedlings once they germinate. A grow light is ideal and when they’re itty bitty, keep that light hung low. Remove any cover or humidity dome once they germinate so it doesn’t block or diffuse the light. The seedlings need at least 12 hours of direct light a day and 8 hours of darkness to really grow strong stems.

Now What?

Unfortunate once a seedling turns leggy, there’s no way to shorten it. All is not lost however. There are a few things you can do to strengthen them to keep them from toppling over.

• Give those babies some light ASAP! Put that light down low over them, remove any covering over them and make sure they are getting at least 12 hours a day.
• Wind ie: an oscillating fan. A slight breeze will give those leggy stems something to work for and make them stronger. This is also good for the soil to prevent fungus and damping off (sudden death). Make sure its a gentle wind and not too intense.
• Water from the bottom. Most seed trays come with a bottom holder. I pour my water in there instead of over the seedlings. Sometimes the water makes them too heavy (especially if they’re leggy and weak) and they get weighed down and won’t make it. This also ensures the soil gets the water it needs and is more consistent than pouring or spraying water over each cell.
• Harden them off once the weather is right. This means putting them outside out of direct sunlight for a few hours each day to get them used to the elements. You can increase their time outside little by little but DONT forget about them!

Sometimes seedlings are just leggy and we do what we can to help them grow. I have ONE in particular right now that started off super leggy and as soon as I added the fan and directed the light more, its thickened up in the stem and is looking much stronger. The others are starting to catch up so I’m crossing my fingers that little over achiever makes it.

Good luck with growing your seeds! As gardeners we learn and make mistakes and learn some more. It’s part of the process and seeds are cheap so that makes it hurt a bit less. If you need help knowing where to begun with starting seeds indoors, check HERE. You’ve got this!

• Seed trays
• Grow lights
• Warming mat
• Soil
• Oscillating fan

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