hi deb, to get seedlings to branch out you tip prune them, that is, you nip off the very tip with your thumb and forefinger. this makes the plant branch out, and as it does, you just keep tipping it on the new branches aswell. as far as your plants being leggy and floppy, they may not be getting enough light where you are growing them, but to firm them up you can harden them off by putting them in the sun for short periods of time, starting off with about 30 mins, then extend it gradually over several days.

the thing to realise about nursery grown plants, is that they are fed a constant diet of fertiliser to push them along, me personally, I dont think that is the best way to go, I prefer to let my plants develop at a more natural rate and have time to develop a proper root system instead of rushing into flowering, so I dont think there is anything wrong there when you say they grow and flower in time.

trance

I agree with the above poster. I would also like to add following:

- always pinch/prune above a set of leaves. Take a look of the pictures below. Once you see small buds (leaves) on the stem, you pinch immediately above them. The pictures should give you an idea.

- The buds immediately below the pinched stem will then start to elongate and two growing points will start to grow. If you let a few more sets of leaves develop (on both stems) you can pinch both again (and get 4 stems developping). This is the way to get bushy plants.

- generally it is best to pinch early (rather than late), but wait until the seedling has a couple of sets of leaves and then pinch off the uppermost set. Avoid squashing the buds (leaves on the stem) below the pinched place. Use a scissor if you have to.

- I have also enclosed a picture of a seedling with an elongated hypocotol (which is the stem below first set of leaves). In low light, sometimes your seedlings end up with elongated stems as shown.

For most plants, you can re-pot the seedling, planting it deeper, and covering the bottom section up until the first set of leaves. Marigolds, for example, respond well to this. This should only be done up to the first set of leaves.

Somtimes you have to combine the two:
- pinch out the growing point for bushy growth (i.e. creating more growing points), and
- repot the seedling so the potting mix covers the hypocotyl (base stem) up until the first set of leaves.

The key to avoid leggy stems is to grow with plenty of light and as cool as possible. However, evenso, most bedding plants responds well to 1-2 pinches during an initial indoor growing season.

Outdoors, you can also pinch back seedlings after first flush of flowers, but it may take longer to reflower then.
This is why I propose to do this indoors, as early as possible (after a few sets of true leaves have developped).

Note: some plants can not be pinched because they are base branching: pansy for example, and lettuce.
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great info, thank you!

This is exactly what I was wanting to know. Thanks a bunch!

I recently started Gaillardia from seed. They have their first set of true leaves which are very floppy, just laying on the soil. Should I pinch them, trim the tips, or just leave them alone?
Also, they get about 12 hours of natural light and an additional five hours of incandescent light (Wonderlite). Thanks!!

Thanks so much KD. I always wondered if I was wrong to use scissors because everyone says to pinch but I can't get my fingers in there without smashing everything. I also wondered how much of the stem to cover when repotting, which is great to know for floppy seedlings.
Thanks again!