cabbage seedlings are always leggy

Hi everyone,

We are doing soil blocks for the first time this year, but our cabbage seedlings are always leggy. When I grew them in pots I would grow them in the lower portion and then add soil until they reached just under the first leaves, but with soil blocks that can't really work.

Does anyone have advice?

Welcome to the forum, Edward.

Leggy seedlings means that your lighting is not working as intended.

Get them more light.  Do you have a sunny window?

What is your lighting set up like so folks can give you more advice.

Hi Edward,
I agree with Anne. Leggy seedlings are a sign of not enough light. Generally you want to raise the seedlings closer to the light or bring the lights down closer to the seedlings.

Hi Edward. It might be that your cabbages are lacking in light as previously suggested, but cabbages do grow on a stalk, so as long as they look healthy and sturdy I wouldn't worry too much. They may need potting on into a larger pot when they get bigger and look if they are running out of nutrients (if you can't transplant them out then of course).

All crucifers pop up quick, and unless they're getting enough light that roadrunner behavior makes the leg out quick.
When I start ours they're on a mat or in a start cabinet at 75-80 d, and it's only 2-3 days until sprout, once breaking the flats are on a rack in the greenhouse, open and between 10-2 covered with a sheer polyester curtain, every other day the curtain time is reduced by an hour, 1/2 each end, so by the 9th day uncovered, by day 12 transplant into cells. I also watch the temp in the greenhouse and will roll the rack in and out of the path of an open end door so the seedlings aren't cooked. I get pretty obsessive about it