Lets Talk Leggy
Let's pretend you're a complete novice to gardening. Now being completely new to all things growing from a seed you hear this saying, "those plants look leggy", and wonder what in the world does that even mean?
That is what I am here to talk about today! What is 'Leggy' and how bad can it be?
Good question! When you decide you want to plant some seeds to start your first garden you go searching for all those crazy varieties and you either get very overwhelmed or you want to buy them ALL! Once you have decided on what seeds to buy you wait patiently squirming and pacing for them to arrive in the mail. Unless of course you bought them in a store somewhere in which case you go straight home. Once you are all calmed down from the mini panic attack from all the excitement of opening that package the mail man delivered that you couldn't even wait to get into the house with so you rip it open like a cave man eating his first meal in a week. Then you can begin deciding how many of each seed you plan to plant for this years garden.
You make sure to shop for all your soil and container needs scouring the internet resources to find the best ideas and probably running into a ton of new ideas that need to be put on the back burner for a minute while you prepare for those tiny brand new delicate little seeds! We wont forget all those new ideas we found for the garden but we need to try to stay on track here... Now we get out soil into our starter packs and we have already decided how many plants we want to start. We have read every single word on the seed packets to try to take in all the information we think we need to care for these seeds. We know the depth to plant the seed, how much sun it needs to grow properly, how far apart to thin them, how tall the plant will grow, how long it takes to maturity and even possibly some back story as to where the plant came from which has us even more intrigued!
We are ready! We do what the packet says give it water and wait. We run back every day (sometimes many times a day) to check for anything popping up out of the soil... Then all of a sudden seven days in and there it is! The tiniest little sprouts you've never seen! You are ecstatic and jumping for you wanting to show everyone. You take twenty pictures to share on all your social media sights and even call your family and friends about the news as if you are announcing a wedding proposal or new baby! You are just overly excited to see those little seedlings! It seems as if no one understands how excited you really are but I do!!
Over the next few days you watch your little seedlings make their way out of the soil and stretch up to reach towards the sun. They are getting so tall so fast and you are just baffled at the rapid growth process. Being new everything to you looks completely normal. What you don't know is your plants aren't close enough to their light source and they are getting taller than they should be already. A few more days go by and the little seedlings are beginning to look super tall and are now starting to lean over. Their main stem is starting to look stringy. Now you know something isn't right! Ahhhhhh..... What do you do? What is happening?
For most seedlings if they get leggy they will not thrive even after being moved closer to the light and you will need to re start. There are a few plants that grow new roots from their stems like tomatoes. In this case you can take your leggy plant and transplant it into a new container burying the stem up to the first set of leaves. This may help the plant send out new roots and save it. Make sure to move it closer to the light source so if you have grow lights hang them about two inches above the plant and move it up as the plant grows. If you are only using the sunlight try placing the plant in a south facing window to give the plant the most light in the day.
Starting over does not mean you have failed. We have all been there at some point. Remember that with gardening it is all trial and error. So whatever doesn't work one way try a new way! There are so many ways to grow plants from out in the garden to in a green house, inside on your counter and even in water! That's right water, but that's for another time! No one is perfect when it comes to gardening they just all found a way that works best for them by trying and trying again! Follow along to see whats next in this wanna be farm girls life and don't forget to stop by the Instagram page and the YouTube channel for more fun! Remember to have a good time. Bye Guys!
That is what I am here to talk about today! What is 'Leggy' and how bad can it be?
Good question! When you decide you want to plant some seeds to start your first garden you go searching for all those crazy varieties and you either get very overwhelmed or you want to buy them ALL! Once you have decided on what seeds to buy you wait patiently squirming and pacing for them to arrive in the mail. Unless of course you bought them in a store somewhere in which case you go straight home. Once you are all calmed down from the mini panic attack from all the excitement of opening that package the mail man delivered that you couldn't even wait to get into the house with so you rip it open like a cave man eating his first meal in a week. Then you can begin deciding how many of each seed you plan to plant for this years garden.
We are ready! We do what the packet says give it water and wait. We run back every day (sometimes many times a day) to check for anything popping up out of the soil... Then all of a sudden seven days in and there it is! The tiniest little sprouts you've never seen! You are ecstatic and jumping for you wanting to show everyone. You take twenty pictures to share on all your social media sights and even call your family and friends about the news as if you are announcing a wedding proposal or new baby! You are just overly excited to see those little seedlings! It seems as if no one understands how excited you really are but I do!!
Over the next few days you watch your little seedlings make their way out of the soil and stretch up to reach towards the sun. They are getting so tall so fast and you are just baffled at the rapid growth process. Being new everything to you looks completely normal. What you don't know is your plants aren't close enough to their light source and they are getting taller than they should be already. A few more days go by and the little seedlings are beginning to look super tall and are now starting to lean over. Their main stem is starting to look stringy. Now you know something isn't right! Ahhhhhh..... What do you do? What is happening?
For most seedlings if they get leggy they will not thrive even after being moved closer to the light and you will need to re start. There are a few plants that grow new roots from their stems like tomatoes. In this case you can take your leggy plant and transplant it into a new container burying the stem up to the first set of leaves. This may help the plant send out new roots and save it. Make sure to move it closer to the light source so if you have grow lights hang them about two inches above the plant and move it up as the plant grows. If you are only using the sunlight try placing the plant in a south facing window to give the plant the most light in the day.
Starting over does not mean you have failed. We have all been there at some point. Remember that with gardening it is all trial and error. So whatever doesn't work one way try a new way! There are so many ways to grow plants from out in the garden to in a green house, inside on your counter and even in water! That's right water, but that's for another time! No one is perfect when it comes to gardening they just all found a way that works best for them by trying and trying again! Follow along to see whats next in this wanna be farm girls life and don't forget to stop by the Instagram page and the YouTube channel for more fun! Remember to have a good time. Bye Guys!
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