nasturiums getting too leggy....

[evepet]

Ok. I'm a complete novice and experimenting with growing from seeds for the first time here. I'm hoping to have a nice luxuriant growth of nasturiums in my balcony railing planters, so I planted some nasturium seeds in planting trays. They started to sprout through last Friday or so. About that same time I got a mini greenhouse and put them in it. Those nasturiums are springing up like nobody's business - already at least 4" high! I need to transplant them asap... but need advice. Will they 'bush out' out more if I transplant several of them into a peatpot that is deep enough to cover a significant portion of their stems? Or should I just start over with new seeds and plant directly into my outside containers in a few weeks? Any advice?

[butterfly]

Ok. I'm a complete novice and experimenting with growing from seeds for the first time here. I'm hoping to have a nice luxuriant growth of nasturiums in my balcony railing planters, so I planted some nasturium seeds in planting trays. They started to sprout through last Friday or so. About that same time I got a mini greenhouse and put them in it. Those nasturiums are springing up like nobody's business - already at least 4" high! I need to transplant them asap... but need advice. Will they 'bush out' out more if I transplant several of them into a peatpot that is deep enough to cover a significant portion of their stems? Or should I just start over with new seeds and plant directly into my outside containers in a few weeks? Any advice?

nasturiums don't need to be started inside

They germinated very quick outside in just 4-5 days

They don't
like rich soil and will germinate in the worse soil there is.

Do not fertilize, they don't like it I planted them one year along a gravel driveway they did wonderful. Fertilizer will cause them to have too much nitrogen causing all the energy to grow just huge leaves little bloom

They are going leggy because they were planted too soon now reaching for light



PLant the seed outside when all danger of frost is gone

[evepet]

thanks butterfly. I guess I'll just chalk this one up to experience.

[butterfly]

thanks butterfly. I guess I'll just chalk this one up to experience.

Oh keep them and plant when you can.

Cut them back when you plant outside, They will bounce back

Just igive them a good scissor cut lol,lol so to speak

If they are too leggy now, you can cut them back now. They will just thicken up as a stronger plant

[joan w]

I just started mine evepet and they're on the stove for warmth.

Get them out on the balcony on nice days so they get used to
outside air and wind.

[evepet]

and take all the leaves off... leave about 2" of bare stem???? Is that about right? And they'll regrow stronger and bushier???

[butterfly]

how many sets of leaves are on them now??

if they have 3, leaves 3

[CatFish]

Im glad that im not the only one that did that....I planted mine almost 2 weeks ago and about 4 of them that are 4" long. The rest havent poped up yet. I was thinking about putting them in a bigger pot or something and then drag them in and out for the next 3 weeks. so just cut them off then...

If the rest havent popped up yet, will the grow? I tried using the biggest and best looking seeds i collected last year.

The marigolds i planted havent done anything yet....

[evepet]

how many sets of leaves are on them now??

if they have 3, leaves 3

Looking closely at them, I see a couple of seedlings with only two little leaves .. A few have 5 leaves on them... Most have 3 leaves. The highest seedlings are now about 6" tall. Do you mean that I should check each seedling and if it has more than 3 leaves on it, cut the higher growth off so there are just 3 leaves on each seedling?

[butterfly]

Do you have them in strong lighting??

If they only have 2-3 sets of leaves don't cut them at this stage

Sounds like they need much more light

Can you get them closer to stronger light? Lack of light is your biggest problem