Question
Marigold seedlings
My forty or so marigold seedlings, planted inside under lights, are very leggy. The roots are visible on the top of the soil. Can I plant them deeply like tomato plants? Thank you.
AnswerNo, you can't plant the stems of marigolds deeply like you can tomatoes. You can cover up those surface roots a bit, however. If you could harden them off by putting them outside for short lengths of time building up to longer periods of time in more sun, that would help the stems to strengthen. Put outside first in only a couple of hours of morning sun for three or four days - then increase the time in the morning sun for a few days, finally letting them stay out most of the day. Being in real sunlight and, more important, real wind will get them to toughen up.
In the future when growing under lights, make sure that the lights are only 2 or 3 inches above the seedlings, and set a small fan on a timer to blow over the seedlings for a couple hours a day. The fan stimulates the stems to grow strong, just as the wind would outdoors.
I hope this helps,
C.L.
