Help- 3 inch seedlings went leggy and leaning way over

[virginharvester]

The stems just went limp and they are pretty much laying down on the rim of the grow cup.

It's an outdoor grow of three different strains. Plants are in starter cups with Happy Frog soil but surrounded by a 1"x 3" deep seed starter mix of sphagnum peat and vermiculite. They are about 7 days old.

I have to start seeds at my place and give them lite from the window seal and balcony before moving them to an outdoor grow site. They were stretching because of getting only about 4 hours of sun a day to start so even though they are 3 inches tall they only have one leaf set out. I moved them to the site so they start getting more sun. At the site they get around 7 hour direct sun. They've been at that site for two days.

So it starts to rain last night, not hard but steady and for a couple hours. I decide to go check on them and they are just laying on their side, limp and tired looking.

So, I'm thinking maybe:

- The roots are already into the Happy Frog soil and it's too much for them
http://www.bwgs.com/detail.asp?ItemNumber=HFP900
- The last two hot days really tired them
- They actually need nutrition and aren't getting it from the seedling starter I surrounded them with.
- They couldn't support themselves even with the small drops that were hitting them because the stems were so weak.

I have heard that too much nitrogen makes plants go leggy or the stems soft. But I don't think they're really getting any nutrition from the mix yet. Will stems go limp on young plants if they don't get enough food from the soil? Maybe they're hungry? Or, maybe it was just the rain and weight of the water on them?

I'm very limited in what I'm able to do since it's an outdoor grow off site but I'd appreciate advice as I'd like them to perk back up and keep going.

[VeoDigital]

Its hard to say without pics, and since I havent grown outdoors lately. Things I do know: Happy Frog contains organic nutes, ie: worm castings, guano, etc. This isnt good for seedlings, secondly, the down pour, even though for a short time, may have hurt the young ones as well. I wouldnt say they are hungry though, or starving for nutes. If at all its a bad meduim to start off in.

[mendezz12]

I personally think happy frog is a good medium, because all the seeds i started turned out great, but thats my opinion, your plants need light son they aer stretching for the light!!! Get a Flourescent bulb for a little bit

[SmknVTEC]

I agree, you answered your own question. They are leggy from not getting enough light. The wind could have blown them over too. You can rule out being hungry because at 7 days, they have easily 2 weeks to go before needing any food. If the soil does have worm castings in it, they probably won't need any food until flowering; maybe even not at all.

[ketchup blunt]

Hey , exact same thing happened to me , was using shitty lights so plants stretched out for the light and couldn't handle their own weight fell over. I used some skewers and twist ties to tie them up and got them under better light...now they are doing great with nice sturdy stems...i've also read that its a good idea to get a fan on them when they're little to strengthen the stems.

[a551701e]

Shit happened to mine and i just said meh let it die... it stood back up and nows over a foot tall lol

[sinky]

I'm getting the same stretching problem -- 5 day old seedlings that are 3 inches with spindly stems, that are falling under the weight of their baby & secondary leaf set. Mine, however, happen to be 11 inches below a 400W MH on 24/0