Fixing leggy seedlings how to#
Fixing leggy seedlings windows#

LED or fluorescent grow lights are ideal for providing extra light for your more demanding houseplants.Īn excellent LED grow light for houseplants Reduce The Temperature Around The Plant Grow lights are available in a range of sizes and prices to fit your space and budget. If you live in a house or apartment that doesn’t get good light exposure, or during the winter months, it might be necessary to supplement your plants with a grow light. Provide Supplemental Light With A Grow Light

Fixing leggy seedlings windows#

Make sure your windows are clean, so as much light comes in through the window as possible. I’ve written another article about indoor light intensity and the impact this has on houseplant care.

Even moving a plant 2 to 3 feet away from a window reduces the light intensity by about half, compared to being right on a windowsill. Distance from the window make a dramatic impact on the amount of light reaching your jade plant. Move it closer to the windowpane without touching the glass. Once you have a good idea which window has the most light, move your jade plant to it. Many people overestimate the amount of sunlight a given location gets. Watch your window during the day to determine how much light your plant receives and whether the window is shaded for part of the day. This seems like a simple solution and it’s the first thing you should try to do. However, this isn’t a quick process due to the slow-growing nature of succulents. Once your jade starts getting leggy, it is possible to treat it, creating a full, bushier plant. In houseplants, the situation usually isn’t so dire but the resulting aesthetics of a leggy jade plant aren’t as desirable as a compact, bushy plant so it’s important to prevent and/or fix legginess. In cases where plants are growing under leaf litter or under the shade canopy of other plants this rapid, leggy growth may be the difference between survival and perishing. The growing tips are strongly attracted to light, and as a defense mechanism for survival (light is needed for photosynthesis after all), phytohormones will elongate the stems of the plants in an attempt to reach towards the light source. This is primarily due to a phenomenon known as etiolation, resulting from a lack of sunlight.Įtiolation is a process that evolved from plants growing in partial or complete lack of light.

It may be accompanied by a thinning of the stem and an overall lightening of the plant’s green color. Instead of a compact, full-looking plant, your plant looks spindly and unhealthy. Insufficient light causes the nodes between the leaves to stretch or elongated more than normal. Typically jade plants become leggy from a lack of sunlight triggering the plant’s natural defense to “reach” towards the sun. In order to fix a leggy jade plant or prevent it from happening, it’s important you understand the reasons why your plant has become stretched. Ensure that you are meeting the general care needs of your plant to promote strong, compact growth. Prevent leggy growth by providing more sunlight or supplementing its growth with a grow light.

Fixing leggy seedlings how to#

How to fix a leggy jade plant? Fix your leggy jade plant by selectively pruning stretched stems to encourage new growth, or pinch off the growing tips on the stems. This article is going to show you how to fix a leggy jade plant, and to prevent it from stretching in the first place. One of the challenges is keeping them from stretching out between the leaves. Jade plants ( Crassula ovata) are commonly grown as houseplants not only because they are easy succulents to grow, but they are also seen as an emblem of good luck or prosperity.