#Leggy watermelon seedlings how to#
#Leggy watermelon seedlings windows#

Hardening off the plants or transplanting them outside may also help with legginess. To avoid overheating, remove the humidity domes from your seedling trays or take them off the heating mats within a couple days of them sprouting. Graper and Moreno both said adding fertilizer to the soil of leggy seedlings will be ineffective. “You want something that’s going to retain the water and not dry out too fast.” Moreno recommends looking for seedling mixes with a combination of perlite, vermiculite and peat moss, or making your own. “You may have to look at what kind of a mix you’re using,” Moreno said. Avoid heavy soil, like garden soil, and use potting soil or seedling starting mix that is formulated to have a loose texture with good drainage. The quality of your seed starting mix may also be impacting the health of your seedlings.

“Add a small amount of water, allow them to sit in slightly and let them soak it up.” “A great way to deal with watering and be more consistent is to have a tray where you wick the moisture into the seedlings,” Moreno said. When it comes to addressing hydration, watering from the bottom so that roots will wick up water may also help to make sure the plants are getting sufficient hydration. Stagger seedlings an inch or two apart once they develop the first true leaves so they have plenty of room to soak up the sun. Make sure your seedlings are not clamoring for space, either. Some gardeners will set up a system where the lights can be raised as the seedlings grow. Moreno said to make sure seedlings are only a couple inches from grow lights. Moreno said you can try moving your plants to a different south-facing window and regularly turning the trays to help tilting seedlings grow straighter, but artificial light is the easiest way to achieve this, especially for northern gardeners with short growing seasons. The first step is to make sure your seedlings have enough light.

#Leggy watermelon seedlings how to#

“If you have a heat lamp on them and it’s too hot, the stems grow faster than the leaves.” How to save leggy seedlings “Too much heat causes a rapid growth spurt,” Moreno said. While warmer temperatures aid germination, most seedlings grow best at a high of 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and nighttime temperatures of 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Overheating, especially under a germination dome or on a heating mat, can also cause a burst in growth that leads to legginess. In a similar vein, poor soil with improper drainage can stunt growth as seedlings struggle to absorb the necessary water and nutrients. Seedlings may also grow leggy if they are not adequately watered. “If the plants are close together than the shade each other and compete for the light that is available.”

“Crowding is related to the light conditions,” Gaper said. Overcrowding in seedling pots will also cause legginess as the seedlings compete for light.

#Leggy watermelon seedlings windows#

Some windows also have coatings that can further hamper access to the sun’s rays. As the seedling gains height, it sacrifices in girth and strength, resulting in thin, pale, fragile, stretched-out stems.Įven if seedlings are situated on a sunny, south-facing window, the average amount of sunlight in late winter to early spring generally does not meet the 12 to 16 hours required for strong seedling development. When the light source is too dim or distant, seedlings grow quickly in height to get closer to that light. The most common cause of legginess is an insufficient or uneven access to light. “If you’ve got a plant that wasn’t getting enough sunlight they’re not going to be able to withstand the rigors of sun and wind.” What causes legginess in seedlings “The other things that happens with the leggy seedlings is that they aren’t storing as much carbohydrates,” said David Graper, South Dakota master gardener coordinator. Legginess is often an indication that your seedlings will fail to thrive once they are transplanted. If these conditions are not met, seedlings can become “leggy,” which is a term used to describe seedlings that have long, thin and pale stalks and small leaves.