Preventing leggy seedlings

honu · February 22, 2007

Just thought I'd share something interesting I read on preventing leggy seedlings...
An excerpt from ATTRA publication by Lane Greer, updated by Katherine L. Adam, "Plug and Transplant Production for Organic Systems":
"Brushing is a kind of mechanical conditioning whereby the grower uses a tool... to brush the plant tops and reduce their height....Researchers at Cornell studied the best ways to brush plants. They used a piece of polystyrene foam on tomato seedlings and found that ten strokes a day was enough to reduce the seedlings' ultimate height by about 20%.... For the tomatoes, they found that 10 to 20 daily stokes were enough for height control, that there was no difference between morning and afternoon brushing, and that brushing did not affect yield. The best time to begin the brushing treatment was the first or second true leaf stage. Beginning later resulted in leaf damage.... The authors concluded that brushing is an effective method for controlling tomato and pansy plant size....Cucurbits and eggplants respond well to brushing, but peppers are damaged by it.... Controlling temperatures is another way to control plant height.... A marked difference in day and night temperatures seems to promote internode elongation, and growers have found that keeping the day and night temperatures the same helps to prevent this from happening."

February 22, 2007	#1
honu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hawaii Posts: 270	Preventing leggy seedlings Just thought I'd share something interesting I read on preventing leggy seedlings... An excerpt from ATTRA publication by Lane Greer, updated by Katherine L. Adam, "Plug and Transplant Production for Organic Systems": "Brushing is a kind of mechanical conditioning whereby the grower uses a tool... to brush the plant tops and reduce their height....Researchers at Cornell studied the best ways to brush plants. They used a piece of polystyrene foam on tomato seedlings and found that ten strokes a day was enough to reduce the seedlings' ultimate height by about 20%.... For the tomatoes, they found that 10 to 20 daily stokes were enough for height control, that there was no difference between morning and afternoon brushing, and that brushing did not affect yield. The best time to begin the brushing treatment was the first or second true leaf stage. Beginning later resulted in leaf damage.... The authors concluded that brushing is an effective method for controlling tomato and pansy plant size....Cucurbits and eggplants respond well to brushing, but peppers are damaged by it.... Controlling temperatures is another way to control plant height.... A marked difference in day and night temperatures seems to promote internode elongation, and growers have found that keeping the day and night temperatures the same helps to prevent this from happening."