Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

stock seedling

WisterialoverWisterialover Posts: 31
in Problem solving
hi i cant tell if my stock seedling are leggy or its natural that they have long stem ,are they doing well ?

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    They’re a bit leggy, you sow stock from early spring to summer,  so it’s a funny time now. You’ll need to pot them on at some time and overwinter them somewhere warmer. 
    https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Sweet-Scented-Ten-Week-Stocks-Seed/
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • WisterialoverWisterialover Posts: 31
    Thanks Lyn , is there possibility I can save them from being leggy? 
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    When you plant them up you can plant them a bit deeper to take up some of the stem. They need light. Lots of plant seeds germinate in autumn and if they are hardy plants your seedlings could go into a coldframe or unheated greenhouse. Do you mean stock as in the plants, eg night scented stock, or as with supply, these are the plants I have in stock?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    They're etiolated because of the need to get adequate light, which makes them weak. Once they're hardened off a bit that will slow them down, but they'll still need to be kept protected. Planting a bit deeper when they're ready to prick out will certainly help that, and then you'll just need to see how they progress. 
    It isn't the right time for sowing them, as @Lyn says, which makes it more difficult. I was assuming they were stocks, as in the usual spring flowerer, but maybe they aren't.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited November 2020
    I agree with all the above - you can also strengthen the stems by using an oscillating fan that blows across the plants. The bending of the stems strengthens them.

    PS - if you can get the lights a bit closer to the plants (without burning them) that will help a lot too

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • WisterialoverWisterialover Posts: 31
    Thanks , Yes It's Matthiola incana 


    Posy said:
    When you plant them up you can plant them a bit deeper to take up some of the stem. They need light. Lots of plant seeds germinate in autumn and if they are hardy plants your seedlings could go into a coldframe or unheated greenhouse. Do you mean stock as in the plants, eg night scented stock, or as with supply, these are the plants I have in stock?

  • WisterialoverWisterialover Posts: 31
    Thanks a lot for the advice 🥰🥰
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I thought they were normally sown in summer for flowering the following spring/summer as they're really bi-ennial. Bit like wallflowers  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sign In or Register to comment.