Leggy Vegetable Plants
Leggy, spindly vegetable seedlings are weak, more prone to disease and potentially unproductive.
A leggy vegetable plant is an indicator that the plant is not getting enough light.
To avoid these spindly vegetables:
- remove pots from heated propogators as soon as the shoots have emerged from the soil
- turn pots on window sills 90degrees,daily, so that the seedlings do not grow towards the light
- take plants off window sills if they start to elongate
- give seedlings plenty of light, from all sides
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The courgette plant below was left in the propogator too long. The plant is so leggy that it cannot stand up on it’s own. It has a long, weak stem.
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The marrow seedling below has a short, strong stem which is able to support the growing leaves. This is how it should be.
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The marrow plants shown below have been left on the window sill too long. The stems have elongated, and they will start to flop over if they are not removed to a lighter spot soon. The pot has been turned occassionally, but not recently, as shown by the leaves which are reaching towards the window light.
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Young vegetable plants need watching closely. They need plenty of light from all directions. Once a vegetable plant becomes leggy it is too late.
Hi Top Veg,
What a useful article. I wish I had read this advice before planting my courgettes. Only one courgette seed germinated, which wasn’t a problem in itself but the seedling had grown very tall. This afternoon I picked up the plant pot and the stem snapped in half. Now I have to start all over again! I could have cried, but now I have your trusty advice. Thanks Top Veg.
Sara from farmingfriends
Comment by Sara - May 13, 2007 6:48 pm
Hello Sara
I am so sorry to hear about your courgettes. It is so disappointing when they don’t germinate, and then to loose the only one is infuriating.
The good news is that they germinate and grow very quickly. Courgettes do need a minimum of 65F to germinate, so put them somewhere warm until they poke through.
We put some seeds in a pot on the kichen window sill, & put the pot in a plastic bag to keep the moisture in. Others we put in a heated propogator, and these came through 2 days earlier.
But in both cases, we put them in a cold greenhouse as soon as they had emerged (without the plastic bag etc). The light in the greenhouse will stop them getting leggy.
Good luck
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg - May 13, 2007 8:25 pm
[…] Leggy plants - caused by insufficient light or too much nitrogen. Put this right by moving the container to a lighter position, or reducing the amount of nitrogen given […]
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