What to do if the zucchini seedlings are very elongated?

Content


Growing zucchini with seedlings allows you to get a good harvest in the early stages, but even in this case, no one is safe from troubles. For example, gardeners often have to observe how a thin stalk is steadily reaching up. Such plants are too fragile to survive when transplanted into a permanent residence. Therefore, the question of what to do if the zucchini seedlings are too eagerly stretching upward is by no means idle. Answering it, first of all it is necessary to understand the reasons for this phenomenon.

Elongated squash seedlings

Why are the sprouts growing up?

There may be several reasons for pulling out seedlings, but they are all associated with improper care of it, more precisely, with the fact that optimal conditions have not been created for it.

  1. Lack of light makes the sprouts stretch up towards the light. Therefore, the stems become long and thin.
  2. When the seedlings are planted too densely, they will also "break through" to the sun, overtaking their neighbors in growth. Because of this, all seedlings will intensively stretch upward.
  3. Too high room temperature, especially at night, "deceives" the seedlings and makes them grow too intensively.
  4. Seedlings not transplanted into open ground in time will also be elongated.

All these reasons are easily removable.

Advice

Plant zucchini seeds for seedlings no more than 3-4 weeks before landing in open ground, that is, no earlier than mid-April.

Densely planted vegetable marrow

What measures need to be taken?

When the gardener noticed that the zucchini seedlings were too elongated, he urgently needed to take measures to "slow down" its growth and increase its resistance. To do this, you need to perform a number of activities.

  1. The first thing to do is check the light level. Even provided that the room has large windows and they face the sunny side, the plants may not have enough light if the weather is cloudy. Plants growing on the windowsills of windows facing north, as well as when they are shaded by trees growing in front of the windows, facades of nearby houses, suffer even more from the lack of light. They will feel good only when there is a lot of light for at least 12 hours. If there is a lack of natural light, it is necessary to install sources of artificial lighting - fluorescent lamps.
  2. The temperature regime must also be set correctly. During the day, the temperature should be in the range from 22 to 28 degrees, at night - from 18 to 20 degrees. If at night it is the same as during the day, the seedlings will grow upward around the clock.
  3. As the plants grow, the pots with them must be gradually moved apart. By the time the zucchini is transplanted to a permanent place of residence, the distance between the pots must be at least 15 centimeters. If the seedlings are planted not in separate pots, but in one large one, it is necessary to evaluate: is it too dense? If necessary, the seedlings will have to be thinned: it is better to sacrifice several seedlings than to risk the entire harvest.
  4. An important event is the deepening of seedlings. The squash has a very thin and flexible stem, which allows it to be buried by ringing. To do this, the stalk is carefully rolled up in a ring or half-ring and pressed to the ground, sprinkled with soil. This should be done very carefully, since it is important not to damage the stem and not cover the cotyledon leaf with soil - it should always remain outside. Very soon, roots will appear on the stalk buried in the ground. The stalk itself will become shorter, the plant will get stronger.It should be borne in mind that after the sprout gives lateral roots, it will begin to develop even faster. In this regard, it should not be delayed with its transfer to a permanent place of residence.

Advice

When planting seedlings in pots, leave space to fill up the soil and deepen the plant.

The measures taken will allow you to grow strong seedlings, which will not be scary to transplant into open ground when the time comes.

Seedlings of vegetable marrow in the open field

Features of planting elongated seedlings in open ground

You can transplant zucchini into open ground when the danger of frost has passed, that is, from mid-May to mid-June, depending on the region. Even when it seems overgrown, it is impossible to plant it in open ground ahead of time, otherwise the very first frosts will destroy it.

The place for the squash bed must be chosen taking into account the predecessor plants. Zucchini will grow poorly in a garden bed that used to "belong" to pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers or the same zucchini. In addition, the risk of contracting various diseases inherent in these crops will be higher. Zucchini will feel best in the area where cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, parsley and legumes were previously grown.

The soil must be fertilized in advance, and just before planting zucchini, you just need to make holes in it. The distance between them should be large enough: from 80 centimeters to one meter between holes, from one meter to one and a half meters between rows. But deep holes should not be made, even if the stems of the seedlings are very long: 8-10 centimeters are enough.

Now you can start the transplant. Regardless of how long the stem of the seedlings is, this must be done carefully so as not to damage their delicate roots. They must be removed from the pot along with an earthen lump. In prepared holes they are placed vertically, sprinkled with earth. If they have strongly elongated stems, then they are buried when planting by ringing in the same way as when growing on a windowsill.

After planting, young zucchini are covered with foil, the next day the ground is loosened. They take care of them, no matter how long the stem of the seedlings was, in the same way: they protect them from the cold, water and feed them in a timely manner.

It is not enough to plant the seeds correctly; it is necessary to create conditions that are optimal for each particular plant. Good illumination and the correct temperature regime are very important for zucchini seedlings, then you don't have to guess why the sprouts are so elongated and what can be done to save the crop.

When preventive measures did not help and the stems still became long, you can bury them directly in a pot or when planting in open ground. At the same time, it is necessary to plant such seedlings especially carefully, because not only the roots are fragile in them.

A stem deepened according to all the rules will give lateral roots, and the plant will not weaken, but, on the contrary, will begin to develop even better. So you shouldn't panic at the sight of young plants stretching up too zealously - the problem can be solved.

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