Floppy Seedlings?

[lupinfarm]

i've got some of my seeds started to go into the ground for may, i plan on having started plants and planting seeds as soon as i'm able. anyway, i've got a tray of broccoli and cabbages and they grow great but then they just kind of ...flop over. no damping and it appears to me that their little leaf head they get is just TOO heavy for their stem. is that normal and will the stem thicken up? its really irritating me because i want some darn broccoli LOL.

Also a question on the side... does anyone know when farmers plant out their corn seeds for the season in the quinte region or really ontario lol? i assume may but really that sounds so late to me

 

[setter4]

My cabbage and broccoli are doing the same thing. I am trying to give them more light and have been setting them out on our nicer days to help harden them up .
I am in zone 5b here in central Pa. and i think you are probably close to that same zone. We don't do corn till at least the end of may.

 

[vfem]

You need more light closer to the plants... the stems are getting leggy. I had quite a few that did that because they stretched so far out reaching for more light.

Most of the stems of the one I did that too either snapped, hasn't hardened back up, or I buried part of the stem after removing some new leaves from the bottom. I don't think that works on a top of plants.

Just push your lamp closer to the plant, or get a higher wattage bulb.

 

[lupinfarm]

My cabbage and broccoli are doing the same thing. I am trying to give them more light and have been setting them out on our nicer days to help harden them up .
I am in zone 5b here in central Pa. and i think you are probably close to that same zone. We don't do corn till at least the end of may.

Oh thank god i am not the only one! haha... Mine are sitting in a window sill that faces south but we've had a lot of rain lately so there hasn't been much sunlight. My farmers almanac says to plant out starting may 15th for corn.

 

[patandchickens]

It's usually because of too little light, especially during the first day or two after germination (if you get a loooong stem between roots and first true leaves, you are basically stuck with it forever).

I have no experience of the cole crops but I can tell you that with lettuce and spinach and all flowers I can think of that do this to me periodically (I germinate seed flats atop kitchen cabinets where it is warm but not bright, and don't always check them often enough ) the plant will mature ok, although funny looking.

Also a question on the side... does anyone know when farmers plant out their corn seeds for the season in the quinte region or really ontario lol? i assume may but really that sounds so late to me

Corn needs pretty warm soil not to rot. I do not believe that it is planted til June anywhere except *possibly* right by the lake.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat