Planting stringy seedlings

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snorkelpop San Diego, CA(Zone 10b) Mar 23, 2011

In my first effort at growing plants indoors, I made the mistake of allowing the seedlings to develop without light. As a result, many of them are so stringy that they won't stand up. The pole beans were stringy but sturdy, so when I transplanted them into pots outdoors, I buried their overly-long stems. My question is, will this "solution" work for all or most vegetable seedlings? I'm talking about beets, turnips, radishes, and kohlrabi. They're still too fragile to be planted outdoors, but I now have them under light. Will it be possible to bury the overly-long stems?

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Organic_Joe Berne, IN Mar 23, 2011

Unfortunately most of your vegetable plants (unlike tomatoes) cannot be planted deeper. The spindly stems also make a much weaker plant. You will be much happier later in the season by sowing again. If time does not permit, you can also buy some starter plants that are ready for transplanting.
http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/ProductCart/pc/Buy-Vegetable-Plants-Online-c44.htm

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snorkelpop San Diego, CA(Zone 10b) Mar 23, 2011

Organic_Joe,

I was afraid of that. Oh, well, I now have a lighting system, so I can proceed as if I were growing plants in batches,say, two weeks apart. I could just throw out my spindlees, but I'm going to give them a chance. It will be a learning experience. As to the website, thanks a million. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of guy who buys more than he can ever use. I don't have much planting space, but you wouldn't know that from all of the seeds and plants that I buy. This has forced me to start hanging growing tubes on the fence and I just got a bunch of Grow Bags from 5 to 15 gallon in size. Grow Bags are much more flexible than anything else, so I just might be able to plant most of what I bought this year. Anyway, your site is a great one, and I have bookmarked it. I've looked for plants before, but I never found such a variety. Radishes? Anyway, thanks again.

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Gymgirl SE Houston (Hobby), TX(Zone 9a) Mar 24, 2011

A simple-to-construct light shelf...shelves and concrete blocks. 48" fluorescent shop lights from the big box stores ($10/ea). Regular old fluorescent light bulbs...

Thumbnail by Gymgirl
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snorkelpop San Diego, CA(Zone 10b) Mar 25, 2011

Gymgirl,

That is terrific (fantastic and amazing also came to mind). We've all seen HCB used for bookshelves, but this usage is much more creative. Well done. I'm going to do it myself, even though I just bought a self-standing light rack with tube. Your creation just deserves to be built.

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