Leggy Chilli's

[springbok]

I germinated all my chilli's and they look rather leggy and long.

Started them off in the airing cupboard, and when some shooted I moved them to the windowsill and removed the lid of the propogator.  They get plenty of light and as my heating is on all day (cos of the baby), they are kept pretty warm where they are.

However, they starting to get that long, some are falling over... and I have noticed one or two have broken in two :(

Any suggestions of whats gone wrong?  Can I rectify the problem by potting them up and putting them deeper in compost?  Newbie to growing Chilli's.

Thanks.

[springbok]

[Barnowl]

Don't know why they're getting leggy - could it be that your seed compost is too rich?

But chillies don't mind being planted up to the first set of leaves so you can plant the seedlings deeper when you transplant them

[dtw]

They shouldn't bend over much, are they getting enough water?

If you plant them deeper when you pot them on, extra roots will come out of the buried stem.

Don't pot them on yet though, as the stems need to be a bit stronger.
Wait until you get at least 4 leaves.

[Lauren S]

If you have them on the window sill, why not make a reflector out of tin foil around the back. This seems to stop them getting leggy, perhaps also turn them every other day?

Lauren  :)

[OllieC]

By "plenty of light", do you mean a good dollop of direct sunlight every day (say 8 hours or more)?

Most likely I'd say they need less heat & more light...

[springbok]

some pictures to see what I mean, how my chilli's have gone a little mad :)

[dtw]

When mine flop over, I move the label to rest them against.
They don't look too bad, some of mine are worse.
I'll post a picture tonight.

[OllieC]

WATCH OUT!!!!

There's a small herd of bears coming in from the left - they'll eat the lot if you're not careful!!!

[Tee Gee]

If they were mine I would re-pot them into deeper pots.

I think yours are in 2" deep pots where 3" pots would be better, then you could sink them into the compost to a depth like Laurens are and as Barnowl suggested.

[lee79]

While we're on the subject, could someone possibly help with my chillis, please?

They're not leggy (unlike my tom were) but this morning everything was fine.  However, I've just looked and all the leaves, in the past couple of hours, have decided to curl in, on themselves.

Mine are also on the window sill, in an unheated propagator, the only thing I did different to normal, was to remove the lid.

All suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Lee

[star]

I would guess they are in a wee bit of shock at having the relative humidity stopped very quickly. You could try putting the lid back on but lifting one side slightly, then increasing the airflow gently over a week or so.

Are they near a radiator? They wont like that too much either, give them a spray often with tepid water or place some little pots of water between the plants.

Hope this helps a bit ;)

[lee79]

Cheers star

Done the lid, will keep an eye on them and see how they go.  Just thought I'd ask you guys incase I've missed something and it gets to a point of no return.  I'm still nursing my toms back to health.

[caroline7758]

Thanks for the reminder- just checked mine and they too are leaning towards the light- must turn them round quick!

[hoonteo]

I'm Malaysian and we grow plenty of chillies outdoors, the humidity is 100% ( fully saturated air ) , the soil is quite poor ( red laterite ) , the sunlight is from 0600 to 1800 and the temperature is a constant 30 degrees C. Hope that's of any use.