Seedling emerged as a plain stalk - no leaves ??

xinjun

Member
Ok so this is only my second seedling... but take a look at this picture. She sent up just a plain shoot, no leaves. Is there something I should do here or just wait it out?

RVvF9e8.jpg
 

FourZeroTwo

Active Member
Wow...im actually out of words lol ive never seen that before...Maybe another one of our RIO brothers/sisters can help you. Id like to know also lol
 

xinjun

Member
Maybe the seed casing & cotyledon leaves somehow broke off completely as she was emerging .. that's.. probably not a good thing :P
 

cannaculturalist

Well-Known Member
I had this with a seedling once - the root grew up, the shoot down... the root tip went green and did nothing (duh) for a couple of days until I binned it. Did you germinate in the cup/medium or transplant a germinated shoot (paper towel/glass of water)?
 

RIKNSTEIN

Well-Known Member
Uhmm yeah...Well shit I can tell ya this...it's not gona make it :cry: but I do suggest if you have pets, you keep them away from your grow room :shock:
 

RIKNSTEIN

Well-Known Member
I had this with a seedling once - the root grew up, the shoot down... the root tip went green and did nothing (duh) for a couple of days until I binned it. Did you germinate in the cup/medium or transplant a germinated shoot (paper towel/glass of water)?
That plant was retarded and I hope you didn't try to grow it out :o...cuz I don't care how you stick a bean in whatever you're sticking it in, the root will ALWAYS go down and the shoot will come up to the light...even if they have to make a circle of themselves to do it...kinda like standing on your head and swallowing some food, it WILL go to your stomach...whether up or down, that's just how it works....
 

xinjun

Member
Soaked in water 12 hrs then germed in soil. I am assuming that the "stalk" shown is either the root or that the seed shell+leaves broke off before she pulled her head up. Either way is not good. I guess she is doomed :( Definitely not pets. The room is closed and she's up on a ledge pets couldn't reach.
 

xinjun

Member
If you look closely at the picture, right behind her to the left... is that the seed shell??
 

RockyMtnMan

Well-Known Member
I had a seedling do that once also.
ALL seedlings start by sending the root up first, then it makes a 180 degree turn.
This is true of ALL seedlings.
They do this to create the natural bend to force the shoot to shed the casing.
There are many, many pics and diagrams on botany sites (not RIU).
If the bean is planted shallow, and the shoot gets hung up on a large piece of perlite or a hard clump of dirt or medium, the seedling can bend the other way and the root pop up instead of the seedling. Not by a defiance of nature, but because the seedling is bent like a spring, and the blockage is causing the tension to push the other end up.
I found one like this a couple months back and was able to actually re-plant it. It was under a dome and the environment was humid and the seedling newly emerged, so it lived.
It is flowering as we speak.
EVERY TIME you plant a bean, the root heads up before down.
 

JohnDoeOntario

Active Member
Thats awesome. I have never seen that, sorry about your luck brother but that made my morning. Best part is that the stem looks like its streching to find a light... might be looking for a while.
 

RetiredMatthebrute

Well-Known Member
so heres what ya do.....dump out the seedling carefully...if its upside down then replant it the correct way...if its just roots under the soil then the head fell off and the plant will not make it.

judging from the looks of things the plant is still growing, generally during a decapitation the plant will just die off. appears to have a healthy stem still so if the head is still intact under the soil then it may have a chance..
 

xinjun

Member
Ok I will check for the head under the soil.

Thats awesome. I have never seen that, sorry about your luck brother but that made my morning. Best part is that the stem looks like its streching to find a light... might be looking for a while.
She does look like she's stretching for light, doesn't she lol. No worries.. it IS pretty funny.


The medium is seed starting soil. Do we still add perlite to that normally? I thought seed starting soil was supposed to have good drainage or whatever.
 

cannaculturalist

Well-Known Member
That plant was retarded and I hope you didn't try to grow it out :o...cuz I don't care how you stick a bean in whatever you're sticking it in, the root will ALWAYS go down and the shoot will come up to the light
Nope, I got rid of it soon enough. It was part of an experimental germination run - I'd planted the seed quite shallow in a jiffy pellet. My conclusion was the taproot had done the usual grow up, then bend down thing, but due to lack of medium, broke free and tried to start photosynthesising (hence it turning green). The cotyledons were just bellow the surface.
 

ITRY

New Member
I had two of mine to the same thing. I think it is because there was not enough heat when it started and I moved the seedlings under light to fast. I was trying to keep the seedling from stretching. Normally I wait until I see the birch leaves on all the seedlings but this time 3 of the five were showing so I placed under the florescent light until they are developed enough to go in the Veg room.
 

lime73

Weed Modifier
I had a seedling loose its main top leaves...looked very similar , but after a few weeks it started new leaves and survived.
Though not sure in this case as there seems to be nothing on top?

Ride it out and see...
 

P10p

Well-Known Member
Happens somewhat often with all seedlings of all vegetables.

The seed casing can easily get stuck in the soil.
 
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