how deep can I plant leggy impatiens?

Contrary to better knowledge, I have grown the world's leggiest impatiens. The stems, although very long, look strong and healthy. When I plant them outside, can I dig a deep hole and bury the stems up until the true leaves or do the stems run a risk of rotting?

Sorry no one has answered you yet. I'll take a shot at it. Impatiens root in water fairly easy. I do prefer moist soil though. You could snip off the top part and root that and see if the remainder will grow another plant.

Could you post a picture of your seedlings?

Before you resort to snipping the seedlings, I would try transplanting them a little deeper, there have been a couple threads around here lately where people say they've had good luck with planting seedlings up to the first leaves, I'm not sure if this works with every type of plant but most people seemed to have good luck with a variety of annuals & perennials.

ec I'm not going to disagree with you. I didn't think the stems will rot if planted deeper. Impatients can take a lot of moisture.

At least we got this post off the ground, lol

Thanks for the ideas. I blinked and my impatiens grew stems about 8 inches long! Maybe I will cut the top of one and see if it roots and then plants the others deeply as an experiment which works better...

If you've still got them growing indoors, I would also try getting them some more light, that's most likely why they're leggy in the first place and as long as you're growing them indoors they're only going to get worse unless you can get them some stronger light.

Yes, I think you're right. I had them under lights, but the plants around them were taller at the time, so the impatiens were underneath the 2" goal. Of all my plants, they became leggy the fastest! This is my first year growing from seed - I'm a faithful thread watcher, but despite all the great tips, I'm still working out the kinks.

Sometimes you can even out the distance to the lights by putting an overturned pot or something under the container that your short plants are growing in, or even using bricks or boards to elevate an entire flat of shorter plants.

Although I haven't done extensive experimenting, it seems to me that plants that root readily in water would develop new roots along any buried portion of their stems. It's definitely a good way to go for tomato and basil seedlings, planting up to their first true leaves if the depth of the pot allows it. Even plants like peppers, which may not develop additional roots like that, don't seem to mind being transplanted a little deeper when you pot them up from their seed starting flats.

Just to throw my 2¢ into the ring -- I would take cuttings, but I would root in potting mix instead of water. In two weeks you can plant them out -- in good friable soil -- and you will have doubled the number if Impatiens you have.

I'm sure they will do fine if you don't do cuttings, but they should be pinched back anyway, so why not?

If you need direction on how to root Impatiens cuttings, post here.

Suzy

Suzy,
I would be curious to know how to root Impatiens cuttings. Thanks!

Ah, actually it is so easy I am embarrassed to actually type it out, but basicaly, the plant roots where the leaf nodes are -- and this can be regular, double or New Guines Impatiens,...not sure about the fancier kinds.

Just pinch the length at a place where the pinched-off part will be long enough that you can rip the leaves off and have room to put the stem in the potting mix and also get those nodes covered with moist potting soil, vermiculite, or peat.

The trick (if there is one) is to have it warm and also as humid as posssible. So you can use a clear 2# deli container or a milk jug and make sure none of the leaves touch the plastic. Light helps, I believe, but direct sun such as from a windowsill or even outside, is a big no-no.

I think my last batch rooted in 5 days, on a heat mat. To tell if they've rooted, don't tug on the cutting! Just look for new leaf growth.

Naturally, rooting the more expensive kinds like doubles and New Guines Impatiens is the best value for your time. You just buy one plant and cut it up. LOL!

Suzy

Ugh! I am so bad at root cuttings. I can't seem to find the right amount of moisture. I've either got them too damp and they rot or I go too far the other way and they wither. I wish dampness was something you could feel on a message board.

Suzy's tip about high humidity around the cuttings is a really good one!

I root a lot of things in plastic-domed deli trays, like the 6 inch square plastic containers you can pick up at any salad bar. I put at least half a dozen little holes in the top for ventilation and a similar number of holes in the bottom for drainage/watering (a metal skewer heated on the stove works really well for this, but be sure you have good ventilation). Those little containers will hold an inch or so of potting mix, and they have a couple inches of headroom for the cuttings (use taller containers for larger cuttings). Moisten potting mix until it holds together when you squeeze it but falls apart again easily when you open your hand all the way (palm flat). I like to add a small amount of polymer moisture crystals to the mix, just to help keep the moisture levels more even.

Here's the thing that I find about using a dome of some sort.... You know the moisture level is about perfect if there's a little breath of condensation on the inside of the dome. If you're seeing big droplets of water condensing, the mix is too wet, and you need to open the lid for a bit to let things dry out. No condensation means the mix is getting too dry. A few little ventilation holes really help to keep things perfect, IMO.

Just make sure none of the stems or leaves of the cuttings touch the inside of the dome or plastic bag that you use to cover your cuttings... the condensation that forms on the surface can mean trouble in terms of rotting the foliage that comes in contact with it.

Let's see if I have a photo.... Here's a salad container with african violet leaves... see the little breath of condensation on the inside of the lid? See the holes poked in the lid? That's what I'm trying to describe.

Critter to the rescue! I think that my problem is so obvious that I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. At least I hope it's that simple. It's ventilation. I don't know what I was thinking. I put a vented dome over my seeds for germination yet here I was trying to root cuttings with no holes in my dome. Thank you once again....you are becoming my Gardening Guru, LOL.

(Speaking of seeds, we have lift-off! Nothing yet with the Wild Cherry, the Flying Saucer, or the Pretty Purple, but the I have close to 100% germination with the others.) :-D

La

I had the same problem with the domes for the nursery flats at first... after all, they didn't come with holes in them! It was really tricky getting the moisture level just right, much too easy to get things too soggy. I'd have to check his book to be sure, but I'll bet Tom DeBaggio is the one who set me straight about ventilation for seeds and cuttings... heaven knows, I learned about everything else from him when I started out!

I'm glad you're getting some of the seeds to sprout! I didn't start any Flying Saucer this year so PLMK if there's a germination issue with those seeds.... but I did get good germination on the Wild Cherry and the Pretty Purple Pepper... heat will speed germination, but they should pop up sooner or later regardless!