Advice needed on how to avoid the 'leggy seedling syndrome'

[Herbsandveg]

The title of the post says it all, really. I sowed some Tomato seeds a couple of weeks ago, and now have them at the stage shown in the accompanying photos. All seems fine just now, but I'm really keen to avoid the seedlings going all 'leggy' and could do with a bit of advice on how to prevent that tricky problem.

The seedlings are currently sat on my bedroom windowsill, and I realise we're fast approaching that tricky little stage when things start going wrong, and the plants go a bit barmy and try to run before they can walk.

Could anyone advise me, please, on the best way to care for the seedlings for these important next few weeks?

[Jay-ell]

They get leggy because they are stretching for the light, mine are like that now. I have some cheap LED lights which help a bit as the light is then directly overhead and they don't have to buckle and bend for the light from the window (even the sunniest window will still have them stretching)

I just bury the leggy stem when I re-pot them to give a longer root area.

[Herbsandveg]

They get leggy because they are stretching for the light, mine are like that now. I have some cheap LED lights which help a bit as the light is then directly overhead and they don't have to buckle and bend for the light from the window (even the sunniest window will still have them stretching)

I just bury the leggy stem when I re-pot them to give a longer root area.

Many thanks for that, Jay-Ell. I'll pot them on as you describe as soon as they get a true leaf, but I hope they'll have calmed down a bit by then and won't be carrying on as they are now!

[sparrow100]

A sheet of tinfoil or white card propped behind the seedlings will reflect light and help prevent legginess. Plus the burying deep on repotting helps a lot too.

[Jay-ell]

Even when I pot them into the last pot I may take off the bottom leaves and plant them deeply.

The way I pot them up is that every time I go up a pot size, I put only a small amount of compost in the new pot, put in the root ball from the current pot so it's down in the pot and top up with compost covering some of the stem each time (after removing the leaves).

This gives the toms a nice healthy root system.

[Herbsandveg]

Even when I pot them into the last pot I may take off the bottom leaves and plant them deeply.

The way I pot them up is that every time I go up a pot size, I put only a small amount of compost in the new pot, put in the root ball from the current pot so it's down in the pot and top up with compost covering some of the stem each time (after removing the leaves).

This gives the toms a nice healthy root system.

I'll try that one too, Jay-Ell. Many thanks!

[Bren In Pots]

A sheet of tinfoil or white card propped behind the seedlings will reflect light and help prevent legginess. Plus the burying deep on repotting helps a lot too.

I also stand foil card behind my seedlings to seem to work well for me.

[fishpond]

As has been said, lack of light is the cause of long legs
Also start to reduce the heat slowly.

[Herbsandveg]

Thank you to all...

Many thanks again to all who helped me with this enquiry yesterday. I took up the suggestion of putting up a sheet a tin foil on the non-window side of the seedlings, and came home to find the vast majority of the standing up straight in the trays rather than leaning towards the sunlight. I'm really, really happy to have found an answer to this problem, so there's a pint down at my local for all my helped me with this one!...