Growing cucumber plants from seeds is wonderful. You start that by choosing the proper soil, watering it, and watching it. Once the seedlings are starting to grow, you will find out that your cucumber seedlings are growing in a strange way. You search about it, and find out it is leggy cucumber seedlings. You start to wonder, can you bury leggy cucumber seedlings to solve this?

 

The answer is yes, you can bury cucumber seedlings. But make no mistake while doing it because it requires special treatment which will lead to the best results you can have.

 

For this reason, you will learn additional ways to fix and prevent leggy cucumber seedlings in future planting of yours. As you will find everything you may face while solving and correcting the issue of leggy cucumber seedlings.

Let’s go and find out more about this topic.

You will find it in this article.

 

 

 

 

1 Will leggy cucumber seedlings survive if you bury them?

To answer this question, let’s get to know first what leggy cucumber seedlings are. What do they look like, and what is the difference between healthy and leggy cucumber seedlings?

By knowing such information, you will make no mistake while dealing with your plant.

 

•       What are leggy cucumber seedlings

Leggy cucumber seedlings can occur in the most optimal conditions as it is not related to nutrients needs or the soil type. The reason why you have leggy cucumber seedlings is because your plant lacks light exposure especially in the first days of growing.

 

This phase is sensitive as it requires more than 12 hours of direct light exposure, if you can provide even 18 hours a day this will be even more helpful for steady and healthy and also fast growth.

 

Another reason may cause leggy cucumber seedlings which is more unlikely the reason but it could be, which are: the heating mats. If you are using a heating mat during the germination phase then it is probably a bad choice and it could lead to leggy cucumber seedling, make sure to put it away.

 

•       What is the difference between healthy and leggy cucumber seedling:

When you are dealing with a new growing cucumber seedling, you should be aware of the difference between the healthy cucumber seedling and the leggy cucumber seedlings. Because when you do, you are very sure that you are dealing with this issue and not something else.

 

Leggy cucumber seedlings looks like:

1. It’s more elongated than usual. In other words, you will notice that the stem is way taller than most ordinary cucumber seedlings (usually from 2-3 inches).
2. Significant and noticeable decline in the stem.
3. The leaves will be so small.
4. The stem of leggy cucumber seedlings is very thin and vulnerable and weak.

 

 

Healthy cucumber seedlings looks like:

1. The length of the stem is natural as it is not more than 3 inches.
2. Cucumber seedlings are growing straight up and there is no incline in it.
3. The leaves are big and grown.
4. The stem of healthy cucumber seedlings is quite thick and solid.

 

To answer your question, yes. Cucumber seedlings will survive if you bury them and handle them in the proper way.

 

 

2 When is the best time to bury leggy cucumber seedlings?

The best time to bury leggy cucumber seedlings is right away when you notice them. Take note that this is applicable when you are growing cucumber seedlings indoors which is more controllable than growing outside.

 

When growing seedlings outside and you have leggy cucumber seedlings then the process is more sensitive than just burying it as it can face stem rot when the rain falls off.

Your best bet is to transplant the seedling and grow them inside until they get stronger and healthier. By doing this, you have a better chance of saving your cucumber seedlings.

 

 

3 How deep do you bury leggy cucumber seedlings?

When you want to bury leggy cucumber seedlings, you must know that healthy cucumber seedlings grow 2-3 inches in stem. This will be taken into mind when you start burying your seedlings.

You can bury leggy cucumber seedlings as deep as you let only 1 to 2 inches above the soil. This will be perfect to let your seedlings be stronger when they regrow again.

 

 

Equally important, you should be wondering more on how to fix your leggy cucumber seedlings. Here’s what you can do…

 

4 how to fix and correct leggy cucumber seedlings in the right way:

To fix and correct leggy cucumber seedlings, follow these instructions and you should be enjoying happy healthy cucumber seedlings in no time.

 

1. Grab the pot that has leggy cucumber seedlings and prepare new pots to transplant those seedlings into them. If you have too many crowded leggy seedlings, make sure to prepare separate pots for every one of them.
2. Make a hole in the new pots (middle) and bury leggy cucumber seedlings in there.

 

3. Add the appropriate mixed soil above and around the seedlings. Cucumber seedlings stem should be 2 inches tall after you add the soil.
4. Put a tray under the pots to water your new transplant leggy cucumber seedlings from bottom. Make sure that all pots do have holes in the bottom.
5. Put the pots under growing light for at least 12 hours a day.

 

 

By applying these instructions, you will notice significant results in the matter of two weeks. When your new transplant leggy cucumber seedlings find what they need, they will thrive.

The big question you should be asking, can you prevent leggy cucumber seedlings in your future planting? ……….

 

 

5 How to prevent leggy cucumber seedlings?

Solving and correcting leggy cucumber seedlings is a good thing to do. Wouldn’t it be great to know how to prevent them from occurring in the first place? Here’s what you can execute to make that a reality:

 

 

1. The first thing to do is to make sure to provide your new brown cucumber seedlings with direct sunlight for at least 12 hours. If you can provide 18 hours of direct sunlight that would be totally fine as those little babies are eager for light sources especially in the early growing days, use growing light if you have to, what matters is only to provide what is needed.

 

2. Make sure to put away any heating mats from the first phase of germination. Heating mats are useful during germination, but they will hold and harm the seedlings, so make sure to apply this step.
3. Space between your cucumber seedlings.

 

4. Water from bottom. Once again, this method is extremely useful as it will encourage the roots of your cucumber seeds to reach the bottom to search for water. Another benefit of it is to avoid any kind of roots or stem rots caused by overwatering.

 

5. Harden your cucumber seedlings either by putting the pots in the window facing the cool and soft wind and breeze. You can use small fans to simulate the same effect if you have tough weather outside. Apply this method for at least 3 to 4 hours in the day and increase day by day. Repeat the process for a week until you notice the stems of your cucumber seedlings are getting stronger and can tolerate tough weather.

 

6. Make sure to transplant your cucumber seedlings outside to let them get stronger even more. Getting natural sunlight will help them grow and thrive.

 

Conclusion:

In the final analysis, yes, you can bury leggy cucumber seedlings. Just do that in the proper way and make sure to not disturb the new roots. Leggy cucumber seedlings will survive and grow again when you bury them.

 

Equally important, you should know that leggy cucumber seedlings can happen due to lack of direct sunlight, or the presence of heating mats around the site. To identify the difference between healthy and leggy cucumber seedlings, here are the signs: unusually tall stem of cucumber seedlings, decline in the stem, fine and weak stem, and the leaves are too small.

 

 Additionally, the best time to bury leggy cucumber seedlings is right away after you find out about the issue. The depth of replanting is as much as you can let 2 inches of stem above the soil.

 

Moreover, to fix and correct leggy cucumber seedlings you must do: transplant leggy cucumber seedlings to new pots, water them from bottom, and provide sufficient direct light for enough time during the day (12 hours at least).

 

In addition, to prevent leggy cucumber seedlings from coming in the first place you should do: provide direct light, move away any heat source, allow space between seedlings, apply bottom irrigation, harden the seedlings, transplant outside after hardening.

 

Furthermore, if you solved your issue, tell us about it. You are always welcome to read about other topics regarding cucumber plants and other vegetables. Happy gardening.