Food-Gardening Lessons From A Wartime Victory Garden

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How Do I Keep Seedlings from Becoming Long and Leggy?

“I start my seedlings indoors. How do I keep them from shooting up 6 inches with a weak stem before I can get them outdoors?” Question from Jerry of Lead, South Dakota

Answer: This is all about providing lots of high-quality light from start to finish. When light is insufficient, seedlings will reach and stretch towards the source, which results in elongated, leggy shoots and poor overall color and growth.

Growing Under Grow Lights

If you’re growing your plants beneath grow lights, be sure that they provide a broad spectrum of light. Keep your seedlings as close to the light as possible without putting them in danger of heat damage. There are lots of high-spectrum lights to choose from. (Click here to read an article about the best lighting choices for indoor plant growing (and seed starting).)

Growing on Windowsills

If you start your seeds along a sunny windowsill, make sure that it is south-facing. Place your seedlings as close to the pane as possible and consider fortifying their light with high-spectrum bulbs for plant growing.

To read more about successful seed starting, read our article Producing Perfect Homegrown Plants from Seed.

Happy gardening!

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

About JESSIE KEITH

Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

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