with the straw metbhod to prop up plants with weak stems, how exactly do i do it. i actually just cut the straw with a slit down the middle and put that around the plant and then pushed the straw down into the soil to support it, is this the correct way...?
I definately could be wrong but i heard that building up the soil around the stem causes the stem to deteriorate and weakens it. I'm also having problems with stem strength. When I orignally sprouted my plants, I had to put them under a 20 watt floro about 2 feet away so my parents wouldn't spot it. It stretched the plant out alot and when i transplanted it, the stem fell over and couldn't stand up. The next day it had stood back up, but has a 2 major bends in the stem and it looks very weak. Are there any particular ferts I could use to help stimulate stem strength (they're less than a week old). I think i may try the straw method used above also.
I have done it lots of times, never found any problems YET. I have tended to use a pile of volcanic rock stones to hold the stem up, I always have the stuff to hand. I have also on occasion used a toothpick as a splint!! 5 months later that stem was as thick as my wrist and I was looking for a power saw to cut through it.
burying the stem in more soil won't hurt it unless you overwater constantly, but that shouldn't be a problem with outside plants in the ground because the water just seeps through the many layers of the earth... roots will actually grow out of the stem all the way up to where the soil stops, so that helps out... after that, if they're inside a fan on them will help out a lot.