How Deep

How deep can I plant seedlings?

Some of my seedlings seem very leggy, I want to pot them on and was wondering if I can plant them to their bottom leaves(not the true leaves).

Thanks

 

I pot mine up plunged to their seed leaves. Although I don't do that, or not so much, for Cucumbers and Melons that are more fussy about getting their stems wet.

If your seedlings are leggy it probably means they aren't getting enough light. If on a windowsill put some tin-foil around to reflect more light onto them.

 

I put them as deep as they need, covering the seed leaves and even some of the true leaves if necessary. But as Kristen says there may be some things that don't like it.

I usually do this when I take sedlings from inside the house, where they have grown leggy, repot them, and then put them outside where they shouldn't get leggy.

 

I think it is risky to plant so deep that you bury the seed leaves - but that's just me.

Apart from the occasional accident you shouldn't let seedlings get that leggy

 

I am wary about burying seed leaves - but I have never had any problems so far. My big problem is that my greenhouse is full of overwintering tender plants, so I have to raise seeds inside the house. And the more you have the further some of them are from the light.

Actually - my real problem is that I always try to raise more seeds than I have enough space for. There's no cure for that. :D

 

I've read that its worth making a tinfoil reflector - an old cardboard box cut to size to provide half-a-surround and then lined with tin-foil should do the trick (and be removable for watering).

But I too know about the incurable disease of windowsill seed raising! I'm just about to plant about 14 x 1/4 sized seed trays for my windowsill propagators!

 

I saw that on Gardeners World last night. Quite clever - I had not seen it before. However I actually have the ideal thing - a proper light box. 18 months ago, in October 2007, I sowed some Salvia coccinea "Forest Fire" seeds in it. When I came back after Christmas they were already flowering. I cut the flowers off, but they were soon back. The plants got too big for the box and ultimately went outside - still flowering. Around October 2008 I bought them inside the house again - still flowering, and they continued till about Christmas. That's virtually 12 months.

But whatever facility you have got - its never big enough. :D

 

They're on a windowsil that gets sun all day long, we've just had a week of cloud and that's when they greminated

 

They won't get as much light as in a greenhouse (which is much more "all round"), so I still think its worth putting a tin foil reflector behind them - and of course it would help on overcast days too.