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Many young vegetable sprouts have grown tall and leggy after sprouting from seedling cell packs.
Garden,  Seed Starting

How to Prevent and Fix Leggy Seedlings

January 27, 2021 /

Last Updated on August 18, 2023

Are you new to growing vegetables, herbs or flowers from seed? Have you ever wondered what’s up with the term “leggy seedlings”? Or, do you have some freshly-sprouted seedlings that are looking extra lean and tall? (Spoiler alert: they might be leggy!) If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you’ve come to the right place. This article will teach you everything you need to know about leggy seedlings: what they are, why they’re a bit of a problem, how to prevent them, and even how to correct leggy seedlings once they grow! 

Be sure to also stop by our Seed Starting 101 article for more tips on raising the most robust seedlings possible.

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What are leggy seedlings? 


Seedlings are described as “leggy” when they grow very tall, skinny, and lanky. In the seedling world, taller does not equate to better, healthier plants! On the contrary, thin leggy seedlings are typically quite weak and fragile. They may also be pale or yellow-looking.

There is no exact height that seedlings must surpass to officially classify as leggy. It’s more about comparing them to healthy seedlings of the same variety that are grown in ideal conditions, which will stay much shorter compared to their less-happy, leggy counterparts. With time and experience, you’ll get a feel for what is considered grossly leggy or not.


Two 6 cell seedling packs are sitting next to one another on a wooden greenhouse bench. The black seedling pack on the left has many leggy seedlings growing out of each cell, they are flopping over the edges and can't support their weight. The brick red color cell pack on the right contains healthy seedlings, each cell has multiple sprouts emanating from it, they are standing straight up and are more squat in nature than their counterparts to the left.
On the left: Leggy bok choy seedlings, about three inches tall. On the right: Healthy, short and stocky bok choy seedlings, about half the height of the leggy ones.

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A close up of two different seedling cell packs, one contains seedlings that are flopping over the edges, the stems unable to support the weight of the rest of the plant. The other pack contains seedlings that are much shorter and more squat, they are standing straight up and their stems look thicker than their leggy counterparts.
The leggy seedlings (left) only received the natural light in our partially-shaded greenhouse (during winter), while the healthier ones on the right were under grow lights for over 14 hours per day (started just a few days later).


What causes leggy seedlings?


The primary cause of leggy seedlings is lack of sufficient light, either in brightness or proximity to the plants. This can happen when gardeners start seeds indoors, or when seeds are planted outside in a too-shady location. Even in our greenhouse (which is partially shaded in the afternoon) we need to use grow lights in order to keep our seedlings happy. Paired with being stretched out tall, leggy seedlings will also often lean to one side – towards the direction of the brightest source of light around. They are desperately reaching for the sun! 


Are leggy seedlings bad?


In general, a leggy growth pattern on seedlings is not ideal. Rather than focusing their energy on developing thick, strong, sturdy stems, leggy seedlings become increasingly thin, fragile, and weak the taller they become. Their top-heavy nature makes them more vulnerable to flopping over, breaking, or other damage. Especially in the face of wind or other elements. Leggy seedlings are also more prone to ‘damping off’ – a condition when seedlings suddenly wilt, become very thin or rot right above the soil line.

Come planting time, not all types of seedlings like to be buried extra deep to compensate for their leggy stems. That practice also comes with the risk of rotting stems. However, many leggy seedlings can be saved (see “how to fix leggy seedlings” below). Tomato and tomatillo seedlings are particularly forgiving. Packed in a tight bunch and harvested young, it also doesn’t really matter if homegrown microgreens become leggy.

All in all, it is best practice to try to prevent leggy seedlings in the first place. Follow the tips below!


A birds eye view of two cell packs full of young brassica plants. They are tall and lanky, flopping over the edges of the containers.
Dang boo, you’ve got legs for days!


How to Prevent Leggy Seedlings


  • Provide ample bright light to seedlings immediately after germination. All it takes is a day or two in the dark for a young sprout to get irreversibly leggy!

  • When starting seeds indoors, plan to provide seedlings with supplemental light (aka a “grow light”). Unfortunately, a sunny window generally doesn’t provide enough light on its own. 

  • As soon as your seeds sprout, turn the grow lights on. If you’re worried about missing this crucial moment, turn on your grow lights a few days after sowing seeds (but before they’ve sprouted). The vast majority of seeds do not need light to germinate, but that way the light will be on and waiting for the moment they do! 

  • Remove any cover used over your seed starting tray to aid in germination (e.g. humidity dome or other) soon after the seedlings sprout, especially if it is not transparent.

  • Keep grow lights suspended low over the seedlings. Even with a very bright grow light, seedlings may get leggy if it’s hung too high. Most fluorescent lights can stay as close as a few inches above seedlings, while LEDs usually need to be kept higher to avoid burning the plants. Follow the light manufacturer’s recommendations. Raise the lights as needed as your plants grow taller.

  • Provide a minimum of 12 hours of bright light (14 to 16 hours is ideal) and 8 hours of darkness. I highly recommend using a simple light timer! Set it and forget it. 

  • When starting seeds outdoors, direct sow seeds in a suitably sunny location and at the right time of year for the type of plant and your zone. Starting seeds outdoors during winter (when daylight hours are usually shorter) can lead to unhappy seedlings, especially in a garden space that receives partial or full shade.


Learn more about choosing and using grow lights in this article, which covers the key differences between LED and fluorescent lights, ratings, best practices, and popular grow light options.


A close up image of many 6 cell pack seedling trays with tender seedlings sprouting upwards. T5 fluorescent lights are hung just inches above the top of the seedlings.
Keep grow lights hung low over the seedlings! (Read instructions on LED lights. Some may burn seedlings if too close)
Update: since we moved and no longer have a greenhouse, we use these all-in-one LED grow light shelves – and are growing the healthiest, happiest seedlings ever!


How to Correct or Fix Leggy Seedlings


Once you have leggy seedlings, there isn’t anything you can do to make them short again. However, if you act quickly, you may be able to prevent them from becoming even more lanky. Furthermore, there are a few tricks to help them gain strength and still live out their best life possible.  


1) Provide more light as soon as possible


The best way to fix leggy seedlings is give them more light, ASAP! This could mean adding a supplemental grow light if you’re not using one already, upgrading to a stronger light, or lowering your current light closer to the seedlings so it is more effective. As you lower a light, there is a smaller area of well-lit space available below it’s canopy. Thus, it may require several lights or one larger unit to provide adequate light over a large number of seedling trays. Otherwise, the stragglers around the perimeter are left out! In that case, take turns rotating different trays directly under the light every day until you can provide more. 


2) Turn heat mats off (or down)


If you are using a seedling heat mat to start seeds indoors and your seedlings appear to be getting leggy, go ahead and turn the heat mat off or down. Warmth helps to expedite seed germination (a great thing!) but can also encourage seedlings to grow faster. When seedlings are already lookin’ on the leggy side, let’s not do anything to encourage them to get even taller, shall we? This recommendation comes in addition to adding more light of course. 

We personally love to use these seedling heat mats that have a built-in thermostat control and temperature probe. After germination, we set our heat mats to come on only when the soil temperature drops below 65-70°F. This keeps our heat-loving summer crop seedlings (tomatoes, peppers, basil, flowers, etc) happy in our greenhouse during the winter to early spring, where it can get quite chilly overnight but also very warm during the day. You can easily apply the same set-up indoors, in a garage, or anywhere you’re raising seedlings.


DeannaCat is holding a thermostat and temperature probe from a seedling heat mat. Beyond lies trays of seedlings and trays of soon to be sprouted seedlings that are covered with humidity domes until they germinate. Two T5 lights are hanging above.
A seedling heat mat with thermostat control. The little metal probe goes inside the soil (pressed down towards the bottom/warmest spot) and controls when the heat mat turns on or off, depending on the desired temperature set. We have a couple 4 foot mats, though they’re also available in smaller sizes.


3) Start over


Okay, hear me out here. I’m not talking about starting a new round of seeds when you’re several weeks or even months deep into the seed-starting season for your zone. However, if you have ample seeds and things are looking leggy only a few days after germination, it might be in everyone’s best interest to start fresh rather than fussing over leggy seedlings for the rest of the season. 

For example, just the other day I started a few 6-packs of bok choy seeds on a heat mat in a dark spare room. I had every wonderful intention of checking them frequently and moving them out to the greenhouse (and under a grow light) as soon as they sprouted. Welp, I forgot to check on them for over 24 hours, they sprouted, and already looked way too tall for my liking. So I simply started more bok choy seeds, and kept the leggy seedlings as the ‘bad example’ for this post! 


Two packs of new emerged leggy seedlings that are tall, skinny, and pale. Their first leaves are more yellow as opposed to green.
These are the forgotten bok choy seedlings from the story above. I only “forgot” them in a dark room for ONE day after spouting, and they immediately grew leggy and pale. Their color will improve once they’re in better light, but I knew I wanted to start over with new seeds. (I allowed these to grow so I could take photos – these are the leggy ones shown earlier in the article).


4) Make them stronger


If you have leggy seedlings, you very well might be able to plant them anyways! But first, they need to be significantly strengthened in preparation. Early on, they’ll be too weak to plant outside. Also, young leggy seedlings are usually too tender to bury deeper in soil without the stems potentially rotting.

Be sure to thin your seedlings down to just one sprout per cell or container within a couple weeks after sprouting. Thinning reduces competition for nutrients, space, light, water, and improves air circulation. I always suggest trimming out unwanted sprouts rather than plucking and pulling. After that, there are three main ways to turn your leggy seedlings from puny to mighty:


Add movement 

To strengthen seedlings, introduce a light wind with an oscillating fan. Don’t put it on full blast, but enough to create gentle shaking and movement. Movement helps the stems of leggy seedlings become more tough and strong. Tickling seedlings with your hands can help in the same manner. Yet a fan is beneficial in more ways than one! Ample airflow also prevents fungal disease and damping off. I recommend using a fan on indoor seedlings whether they’re leggy or not. 


Use mild fertilizer and “water from below”

Another way to boost the health of leggy seedlings is to feed them! Once seedlings develop their first set or two of true leaves (the ones that grow after the initial two leaves that are often heart-shaped) you can begin to feed them with a very mild liquid fertilizer. The seedlings should be at least a few weeks old by this point, since they do not need or care for fertilizer much younger than that.

We prefer to feed our seedlings with seaweed extract, though fish emulsion is another popular choice. Be sure to dilute whatever you use per the instructions on the bottle. Then, add the liquid fertilizer/water into the lower tray that the seedling containers are sitting in. The soil will soak up what it needs from the bottom. That is the way we always suggest to water all seedlings anyways, but especially the leggy ones! Pouring water in from the top runs the risk of knocking them over, and doesn’t provide even moisture. When you water from below, it encourages their roots to grow deep – making the plants more strong.


DeannaCat holding a one gallon watering can, pouring water from the spout into the bottom of black trays full of seedling containers. The setting is in a greenhouse with pea gravel floor, and dozens of small green plants are growing in the small pots within the seedling trays.
Watering from below: add an inch or two of liquid into the lower tray, but only enough that the seedling containers/soil will soak up within a few hours. Do not let them sit in standing water constantly. If there is still water in the tray 4 to 5 hours after watering, carefully pour it out.


Harden off

Finally, be sure to always harden off leggy seedlings before transplanting them outside. ‘Hardening off’ is the process of slowly introducing seedlings that were raised indoors to the outdoor elements. This generally involves taking the seedlings outside each day over the course of a week, starting with just a few hours in the shade and gradually increasing the time and amount of direct sunlight. Like a fan, this makes the seedlings stronger and more prepared to face challenges such as wind, rain, hot sun, or cold conditions. See step-by-step hardening off instructions here.


Potting Up or Planting Leggy Seedlings 


Can you bury leggy seedlings deeper in the soil? 


Generally, yes, you can plant leggy seedlings deeper in the soil to help compensate for the extra-long stems! However, avoid the temptation to plant them deeper right away, when they’re still very young and tender. Weak, thin, small stems may rot once they’re buried in damp soil. Wait at least several weeks, and after taking steps to strengthen and/or harden off the leggy seedlings as described above.

Once the stems are more tough and strong, you should be able to bury a portion of the leggy seedling stem – either by potting them up, or transplanting them outside. Or, you may do both! For instance, we start our tomatoes in small 4” seedling pots. Then after about a month, we pot up the seedlings into larger 8” nursery pots and bury the stem by a couple inches at that time. Then when we transplant them out into the garden, we can bury the stem a few more inches if needed.  

See related: Potting Up Seedlings: When, Why & How


DeannaCat is touching the root ball of a tomato seedling that is sitting inside of a larger 8 inch nursery pot. The root ball is a couple inches below the top of the pot, the stem will be buried up to that point with soil during the potting up process.
Potting up a leggy tomato seedling from a 4″ nursery pot to an 8″ pot. I put a small amount of soil on the bottom of the new pot, but will otherwise keep the root ball deep in the new container so that I can bury the stem a couple of inches. It looks like I also removed a lower branch or two.


How deep can you plant leggy seedlings? 


Well, that depends on the type of plant and size of the seedling! The goal is to bury the leggy seedling stem enough so that the plant isn’t too top heavy and can successfully grow. Otherwise, I personally err on the side of caution and avoid burying them more than necessary. 


  • Most common garden vegetables don’t mind if you bury their stem part way or all the way up to their first set of true leaves (or first set of lateral branches). You can do this with peppers and members of the brassica family: kale, collard greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower.

  • If the vegetable is one that should normally form a head or bulb right at the soil line, then you’ll want to bury it up to that point – where the stem branches and begins to form the main crop, so that its weight will be supported on the soil surface. Consider a head of lettuce, bok choy, cabbage, or kohlrabi for example. 

  • You can plant some seedlings even deeper. Tomatoes and tomatillos are prime examples. Due to their advantageous root systems, it is a common practice to remove the lowest few branches and bury leggy tomato seedlings up past that point (planting up to half of the plant underground). Tomatoes and tomatillos will grow new roots off of the buried portion of the stem! More roots equals a more robust and healthy plant.

  • It is less necessary to deeply bury seedlings of plants that will continue to grow tall branching stems well above the soil line anyways, such as flowers or herbs.

  • I’ve heard conflicting things about how well eggplant, squash, and cucumber seedlings take to being planted deeply (as they may be more prone to rotting). Therefore, play it safe and only minimally bury those if needed, and do so in well-draining soil that won’t hold copious moisture around their stems.


A cauliflower seedling sitting in its newly formed planting space in a raised garden bad. Its root ball is sitting an inch or two below the soil surface. Beyond lies a few other cauliflower in the same row as well as a couple rows of red onions.
Planting a slightly leggy cauliflower seedling, burying the stem a couple inches (up to the first set of leaves).
DeannaCat is holding a young tomatillo plant that has been pulled out of a garden bed due to the plants structure which wasn't ideal. The rootball and second ball of roots is what is illustrated most. It shows the original root ball that was formed as a seedling, however, above that for about 4 to 6 inches there are many more roots growing from the main stem after the tomatillo seedling was planted deep to counteract it being leggy. Beyond lies another garden bed with kale, zinnia, sunflower, and calendula. A chicken is standing in between the two beds looking at the suspended root ball and plant.
This was a tomatillo seedling that got WAY too tall in our greenhouse. It had ample light, but we started it too soon (I forgot how quickly tomatillos get large!) so I buried the stem a good 6 inches deep when transplanting it into the garden. I still ended up starting a new seedling to replace it because I didn’t like it’s growth structure, so I dug it up about a month later to replace it. All of these new roots grew off the buried portion of the stem in that short time! Tomatoes do something similar, but not quite as vigorously.


And that concludes this lesson on leggy seedlings.


All in all, do not feel bad if your seedlings are a little leggy! Even the most experienced gardeners doing all the “right” things grow some slightly leggy seedlings sometimes – ourselves included. As you saw in this article, all hope is not lost! There are a number of ways to prevent and fix leggy seedlings. Plus, you’ll learn from your mistakes and improve next season. That is one thing I love about gardening: there is always something new to learn, and there is always next year.

Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. Also, please pin or share this article if you found it valuable! Cheers to growing happy seedlings!


You may enjoy these related posts:



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Deanna Talerico (aka DeannaCat) is a garden educator and writer with over 15 years experience in organic gardening. She is a retired Senior Environmental Health Specialist, and holds a M.A. in Environmental Studies and B.S. in Sustainability and Natural Resources.

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27 Comments

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      April 1, 2025 at 10:51 am Reply

      Hi Taryn, we have had seen some people have success burying zinnia stems but I would use caution as the chances of stem rot will likely go up, especially so if the seedlings are still fairly young. Having a good grow light for your seedlings is the best remedy going forward. Hope that helps and good luck!

  • Edward Koza

    March 9, 2025 at 3:39 pm Reply

    I’ve had almost zero success at starting seeds indoors. I’ve been using grow lights, avoiding watering too much, using fresh potting soils and mixes and doing everything else by the books. However, it seems that the very air in my house is infected with the fungus that causes damping off disease (don’t know whether to spell “damping” with an “n” or a “p”) as it seems to be a curse in my house (maybe I should start watering them w/ holy water or something). I’ve even tried to periodically water with aspirin and/or hydrogen peroxide water as well as treat the soil or mix w/ ground cinnamon as well as other anti fungal measures

    Year after year, I buy seeds from major online seed co and at local retailers. (It doesn’t matter who I buy the seed off of. The results are the same flopped over and death ridden disaster no matter what.) Year after year, I wind up having to throw everything away and settle for buying more expensive seedlings at a gardening center or greenhouse to plant in my garden. Maybe I should try to save a little money by just buying seedlings at those amped up prices and skip the trying to start seeds myself. It seems to me to be an exercise in futility and a waste of time, effort and money!

    I am thinking of trying one more time (next year) if this year’s attempt yields the same results (Nada!) by buying several of those UVC lamps that are supposed to kill molds, bacteria, fungus, insects, etc in the air and on surfaces. Then I’ll evacuate my cat, dog, seed packets and self for about 8 hrs so as not to harm us and irradiate the heck out of my house for that time (kind of like fumigating a house).

    My plan is to maybe irradicate that cursed (probably damping off was part of Biblical Cain’s curse after doing his brother in) fungus from hell and send it back to where it came from and then start my seeds in that sterilized environment.

    However, I half believe that my brand of damping off fungus would mutate and maybe start to use those UVC rays for photosynthesis. I have a feeling that damping off fungus would probably be one of the few things that would survive an all-out nuclear holocaust and the consequencial nuclear winter and ultraviolet spring that would follow even if salted nukes and neutron b0mbs were used. It would probably mutate into something far worse, such as maybe carnivorous mega flora that would eat any animal life that survives as well as any plants that dared to sprout. Frustrating to say the least!

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      March 10, 2025 at 8:00 am Reply

      Hi Edward, that has to be incredibly frustrating! One thing you can try before you do anything too extensive is to simply clean your seedling containers before sowing seeds in them. Fungus and mold can lay dormant in containers from year to year so it’s a good idea to sanitize them between seasons. If that still doesn’t work, if you have a good nursery available to you, getting seedlings is a viable option, while that route may be more expensive, it definitely takes less time and effort compared to growing plant from seed. Hopefully you can get everything figured out and good luck!

  • Jennifer

    April 7, 2024 at 5:41 am Reply

    Help. I’ve scoured your articles I swear 4x & am panicking. I’ve started varying seedlings in my greenhouse in zone 5b climate. We are still in the 20s at night & had a terrible non sunny winter & are struggling to get sun for more than 8 hours every other day-ish.

    Some of my seedlings are growing (tomatoes, ayssum, some petunias) most are super slow. I have one good flourescent light & all are still on heat mats & domes. So I need to move the tomatoes out of the dome & off the heat mat right? My fear is that it still gets to under 50 degrees in there if I move them off the heat mat. I am SO perplexed. So which is the order of importance for us cold weather growers???

    The space heater option tends to scare me but am wondering if I should do that for this crappy weather WI has been having.

    Also, for multiple seed trays, it seems I have a rats nest of cords & a possible fire hazard with 4 heat mats, 2 lights & multiple timers on a surge strip. Any suggestions?? I currently have one outdoor heavy gauge extension cord running the show for now.

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      April 7, 2024 at 7:50 am Reply

      Hi Jennifer, starting seeds in a greenhouse can be quite the adventure in regards to temperature and sunlight depending on the time of year. When we had a greenhouse at our old property in zone 10a, our summer veggies always had a slow start with the cooler temps and limited sunlight, considering your live in a very cold climate, I can imagine your seedlings are growing more slowly than what you would like. Going forward, having an indoor seed starting and growing area would likely be the best as the temperature would be much warmer for your seedlings and they would grow much quicker, likely meaning you could start your seedlings even later.

      As far as working with what you have, it may be best to keep the heat mats on for your heat loving summer veggies assuming you have a connected thermostat for your heat mat, if so, you can set the temperature for 60-65 degrees F and it will only turn on when the soil temp is below that temperature. However, you don’t want to leave the domes on the seedlings after they sprout as there can be too much moisture tramped inside which will cause damping off on your seedlings where they essential rot along their stems.

      As far as the amount of cords you have to plug into outlets, getting a really nice power strip is likely your best option like this one here. It has a 15 foot cord and it would be best if you didn’t have to run an extension cord to your greenhouse but I can understand if your outlet is further away than what the power strip can reach. Using quality product will go a long way in ensuring safety. Hope that helps and feel free to ask any other questions you may have, good luck!

      • Jennifer

        April 7, 2024 at 11:27 am Reply

        Thank you for your reply! Ok I will do those things except I have to grow outside in the greenhouse after the expense! 😉 Hubby would be most unhappy.

        So it’s ok that the ambient temperature in the greenhouse is cooler even if the sprouted plants are on a heat mat? I thought they had to maintain a warm air environment or wil they simply grow slower until we get consistent sun? I thought the mat temps needed to stay between 70-85 degrees (or according to the seed packets)?

        • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

          April 7, 2024 at 2:42 pm Reply

          Hi Jennifer, if you can set your heat mat for 70 degrees F that will work, getting the air inside your greenhouse warmer would be ideal, however, that likely isn’t possible without extra space heaters and such as you mentioned. Keeping the soil temperature warm will help the seedlings grow better even if the air temperature is cooler. The temperatures on the seed packets are the optimal soil temperatures for germination for that specific vegetable, flower, or herb. Tomatoes specifically will grow best if the soil is at least 60 degrees F, hope that helps and good luck!

  • Michelle

    January 29, 2023 at 4:47 pm Reply

    What if some of the seeds sprout before others in the same tray? Do you have any advice on how to transfer sprouted seedlings from a seedling cell tray that also has unsprouted seedlings? I am not sure how to move the sprouted seedlings when the potting mix is so loose (since there isn’t much little root growth yet)? Thank you for any thoughts!

    Michelle

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      January 30, 2023 at 8:26 am Reply

      Hi Michelle, that can be an issue at times as not all of the seeds in the same cell tray will sprout at the same time. We will typically try and leave the tray on the seedling heat mat, even if a few have sprouted in hopes that the remaining ones will sprout shortly. As long as you don’t leave them for an additional 24 hours or more without putting them under lights, they should not get leggy. Once half or more of the cells have sprouted, we will usually move it under the lights and hope the remaining couple cells sprout without the heat mat. As far as pulling out newly emerged seedlings and transferring to a different cell pack, they are likely too small and fragile to do this once they first emerge, I would be worried about smashing their cotyledon leaves. Hope that helps and reach out with any other questions.

      • Michelle

        January 30, 2023 at 5:19 pm Reply

        Thank you, Aaron (Mr. Deannacat)! This was my instinct, but I had hoped that you might have a genius hack for separating the sprouted from the unsprouted. I guess I should also pay more attention to approximate days to sprout on the seed packages!

        • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

          January 30, 2023 at 10:41 pm Reply

          No problem Michelle, we have sometimes tenderly pulled out small seedlings that are sharing the same cell or pot and placed their root end in moist soil in a separate container but that is usually after they have sprouted and been growing for a week or two. Doing it when they are so small would be difficult to do in general and I don’t think the seedling survival rate would be very high. If you have the same variety of seeds planted in the same cell packs, they will usually sprout around the same time. Good luck and have fun growing!

          • Michelle J Sorensen

            February 15, 2023 at 5:20 pm

            Thank you for this additional advice. I now have a new problem that I have never heard about: one of my spinach seedlings seems to have bolted! Have you ever encountered such an occurence? Would you just pinch off the flower spike or give up on that seedling entirely? Thank you.

          • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

            February 16, 2023 at 7:28 am

            Hi Michelle, if your spinach seedling has already bolted, you should probably give up on it. Sometimes we will let a more mature plant continue to grow if it bolts and still harvest what we can before eventually removing it. Yet, if it happens while its still a seedling, it likely isn’t worth a spot in your garden. Hope that helps and good luck!

  • marsha

    June 16, 2022 at 3:33 pm Reply

    Aaron,

    When seedlings will be climbing vines, does a little legginess matter? Talking about Cardinal Climber (“hybrid”–red morning glory + red cypress) vine.

    Always seeking out your kind when unsure. Thanks in advance! (=

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      June 17, 2022 at 8:05 am Reply

      Hi Marsha, they should be fine if you don’t feel like starting more seeds. It’s best to get them adequate light ASAP so they can grow out of their legginess. Good luck and have fun growing!

  • Valerie

    May 1, 2022 at 6:28 pm Reply

    Thank you for this helpful information and the sample photos. I almost gave up the idea of gardening this year when all my seedlings went leggy and white. Instead I’ll try again and invest in a grow light. Just not enough sunlight in this house.

  • Suzanne Phend

    March 28, 2021 at 7:05 pm Reply

    What can I do, if anything, if I have some burnt tomato leaves? I lowered my lights because my seedlings became leggy overnight! I have the lights on a timer for 16 hours a day and one day they were great, the next they were so leggy! I must have had the lights too high. So, I lowered the lights a bit and we went out of town for two nights. I came back and a lot of my tomatoes have burnt leaves. Do I need to scrap them and start over or just cut off the burnt leaves? Thanks so much!!

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      March 29, 2021 at 2:19 pm Reply

      Hello Suzanne, unfortunately that happens sometimes, they can grow so fast and in a days time they are growing into the lights! Your seedlings should rebound just fine, it really depends on how large they are and how much leaf you want to cut off since they need it to photosynthesize. If anything, maybe cut off the burnt portion of leaf while leaving what remains so the plant will still have the ability to absorb light. Hope that helps and good luck! Let me know if anything else comes up.

  • Alanna M Ponder

    February 18, 2021 at 7:31 pm Reply

    Great article on leggy seedlings, thank you.

    Question,
    I started my seedlings on heat mats and lamps in my basement.
    I’m planning on transferring the seedlings when they are the right size into my greenhouse
    where I have raised beds.
    Is there a hardening off method for getting the plant used to natural greenhouse light from artificial light?

    Thank you.

    • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

      February 19, 2021 at 9:31 am Reply

      Hello Alanna, yes there is a hardening off process when you bring a plant from indoors to outdoors even if in a greenhouse. We have an article about hardening off seedlings here which should be able to answer any questions you have. Hope that helps and thanks for reading!

      • Sharon

        March 9, 2021 at 6:05 pm Reply

        My lettuce went leggy overnight. I need grow lights I know. But can’t get them till next year. Do you think they can be saved?
        Also have you ever tried growing in seed trays seed outside but bring them in at night?
        Thank you

        • Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)

          March 10, 2021 at 2:47 pm Reply

          Hello Sharon, I’m sorry your seedlings went leggy. It really depends on how leggy the lettuce seedlings are, it may be just as easy to germinate more seeds in case these ones can’t be saved. If you are able to get them sufficient lighting it may not be the end for them yet. I am not sure which hardiness zone you are in but if the weather is in the 60’s during the day, bringing them outside to get better lighting would be a realistic option. Just be sure to slowly introduce your indoor seedlings to the outdoors by hardening them off as to not shock them. Let us know if you have any other questions and good luck!

    • Alanna M Ponder

      February 21, 2021 at 2:40 pm Reply

      Read your article and watched your video on hardening off.
      Great information, very helpful information!
      Can’t wait to get started.

      • Tracie

        March 31, 2021 at 3:58 pm Reply

        Really good article on legginess! I have Dianthus seedlings that became leggy even though I had them a couple inches from the florescent lights. Don’t know what I did wrong but your information on how to fix legginess gives me hope. I just transplanted the whole peat pellet into a 3 inch peat pot. And put a fan on them like you suggested. Now I am going to mix up some water soluable fertilizer at half strength. Wish me luck! Thanks again!

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