Fredman
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Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2018 12:59 am

Young plants seeding after replant...

Hi Everyone. I'm baffled and need some help please.
I'm having this problem for 5 years now. Every spring after replanting the young seedlings (lettuce, kale, spinach and others) in the ground, some grow for a few weeks and then starts seeding. I buy the seedlings in punnets of 6. If they do start seeding, its all 6 of that batch.
This year its the red kale and spinach so far. That means I need to remove them and start all over again...!!!
Needless to say its very frustrating. I can't think of a reason why that would happen.
I would very much like to hear your your thoughts please.
Thank you.

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

What are the day/night temperatures like there? Is it possible you are starting the garden too late in the spring season?

Spinach in particular is likely to bolt in heat. Lettuce, Spinach, Kale are all early spring cool weather plants and when grown from seeds, will sprout before last spring frost, and can withstand frost and freeze. Even indoor/greenhouse started young seedlings can take frost as long as they are properly hardened off/acclimated.

In warmer parts of the country where winters are not severe, they are grown as winter crops. Even in areas that get as cold as mine, you can start spinach and kale in the fall and have them survive the winter to grow as soon as it starts to thaw next spring.

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digitS'
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Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 1:10 pm
Location: ID/WA! border

So often, store-bought plant starts are alive but rootbound from being in their containers for too long a time.

It's possible with some to tear the roots loose and expect regrowth. Without those new roots, the plant's top growth is limited to simply advancement through their development to flowering and producing seeds.

Transplant shock may occur whether the roots are disturbed or not. Again, the plant's response may be flowering and producing seeds.

Care should be taken at garden centers to choose young plant starts that are actively growing. Transplant shock may still occur but it should be possible for the plant to get past it and grow! Of course, that is what the gardener is hoping for.

Steve

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jal_ut
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Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

"some grow for a few weeks and then starts seeding."

That is the life's mission of a plant to reproduce. IOW, make seed.

Those cool weather plants you name, seeds should be planted directly out in the garden where they will grow. No transplanting. Plant them early. Good luck!

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

How about starting them from seeds instead? People often buy the wrong seedlings. They look for the biggest which are also the oldest instead of the youngest. Old seedlings are probably pot bound and older than you think since they have probably been stunted in the pots.

Lettuce from seeds should take 7-14 days to sprout and should be transplantable when they are about 2 inches tall or about 2 weeks old.

Spinach seeds work best for me if I soak them first. They are big seeds so I usually plant them out directly in the garden about 4 inches apart.

I have kept kale in pots for a long time and they usually still transplant well, although it is best not to keep them to the point where their stems are thick and hardened. I usually start kale in community pots, but I only need a few.

Where I live it is hot and kale and lettuce can still be grown most of the year if a heat tolerant variety is grown. Spinach bolts and the yield is small, so I grow tropical spinach instead. They are perennial and productive. The best one I have grown is NZ hot weather spinach.

I have never had my kale bolt to date and I have kept them over a year. The toscano kale got over 6 ft tall.

Buttercrunch lettuce is ready in 45 days and over the hill and bitter at 55 days. In the winter months the lettuce takes longer to mature so the outer leaves can be picked longer. Around April and May when the days are still relatively cool but the days are longer, lettuce grows very fast and big and can be ready to harvest in 30 days. In summer over 85 degrees lettuce is small, bitter and bolts. The lettuce is so tight they look more like small cabbages.



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