Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Gibberellin overload? Lessons in Tomatillo seedlings...

So, the tomatillo seedlings.  They seem happy.  Almost a little too happy.  Or just supermodel leggy, which makes no sense because I KNOW they're getting adequate light.  Everyone else seems happy and NORMAL in the mini greenhaus.

The tomatillos on the other hand... what the heck?
(pardon for dirty side of greenhaus... too small to get my camera in there properly to show the legginess)

I think I might be needing to transplant/re-pot these sooner than I thought.

I'm really hoping (and assuming) just like tomatoes they're a hardy bunch and will take well to being moved around and yanked out of their little soil-y home because, Immagonnahaveto.

Funny how everything seems to take so long to get started, and once it does, there's a feeling of "SLOW DOWN! PLEASE"

Like I tell my husband when I go garden crazy in the spring and seem manic in the garden, "MOTHER NATURE! I CAN'T STOP HER!  I have to plant, NOW!"

By now you're probably wondering, "When's she going to get to that weird thing in her subject heading?  Gibb-a-what?"

Gibberellin is this super spiffy thing in nature that has never left my head since I heard about it in a high school biology class.  (That and cane toads).  Anyways, gibberellin, besides being a fun word to say is a plant hormone that is involved in development.  It's involved in the aptly dubbed "foolish seedling" disease.  You can read the linked wiki article, but the main point is ridiculous plant growth in the seedling stage that causes it to be tall and thin and thus delicate and easily breakable at an early stage.

I  don't really think my tomatillo has this issue, but I just think of gibberellin every time I have seedlings that act this way or I see tall skinny people or my patience wears thin...

That's my bit of science trivia for today!

Hope all is well in your gardens and that you're babies aren't growing up too quick!