Spinach seedings falling over

[Jeannie MIller]

My spinach seedlings have germinated well but as they grow bigger it seems they don't have enough strength to stand upright and they are falling over.  Is this normal or am I doing something wrong like overwatering?  They are about 6cm high.

[josephal]

hi jeannie, I do all my planting in the cool of the late afternoon and at the moment the sun is still pretty fierce so i put shade cloth or something to provide shade for a few days while the seedlings adjust. Water is important too and spray gently with your hose as to not damage the tender young plants.

[moggy]

sounds like damping off

[Rex Morris]

Did you grow these yourself - if so they might not have had enough light to start with resulting htem in becoming 'leggy'. If this is the case they will fall over initially but will continue to grow normally, just a little wonky?  Until recently I grew my seedlings on a shelf beside the window in a garage and they were often long and leggy becasue the light was poor but they still grew okay.

[Angie Gibbons]

Hi

Where are they germinating?  I find this is a result of to little light.

Angie

[Jeannie MIller]

Thanks for your advice everyone.  I sowed the seed direct into the garden - part shade.  Ironically they started doing better (maybe got stronger?) over the last week then our friends dog lay on them and squashed them!