Carnation Seedlings - Viney

I started these carnation seeds in March. They seem to be doing fine, BUT, they are thin and viney like... just laying about. They are supposed to stand to at least 12" tall. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? They are growing... but not "up".

Thanks,
Donna

Are they getting enough sun? I have a few seedlings, not carnation, but also should be growing up and aren't. I think mine need to be in more sun.

Well, I don't think that they were... What I have done is gone through them all... pinched them back... potted in the seed trays with a good mixture of enriched soil and placed them in a very sunny area. As I recall... I did have a few in that spot (the really sunny spot) at one time and they were doing well, until I moved them with the rest to the mostly shadey spot. I guess I figured that since they were seedlings that too much sun would be bad... and put them in a shadey area.

I hope now that I have corrected the problem and can get them up and going this year.

Thanks for your response!

Take care,
Donna

That was probably it. However, if you've had them in mostly shade for a while, you might want to work them up to fuller sun gradually--if they've gotten used to the shade it can be quite a shock to just throw them into the sun again, so I would every day let them have sun for a little bit longer until you've worked up to keeping them in the sunny place all day long. Otherwise they can get sunburned, if they were full size plants that might not be too big a deal but for seedlings I think it could be more dangerous.

ecrane...you took the words right out of my mouth!!! as usual :)

Thanks for the suggestion. They weren't in total shade. Just mostly. But still, probably too much for these plants. I've had to do the same with Gardenias that I have rooted. Gradually gotten them use to not being in total shade. And since I root them in pots with baggies over them, even have to gradually get them use to not being under the baggie... Gardenias are so picky though!

Take Care,
Donna