How deep do you plant tall spindly seedings?

I have about 24 seedlings of sunflower plants (the mammoth ones) They are started in peat pots. Right now they are sooooo long and spindly that they cant even stand up straight. How do i plant them outside? How deed do i plant them? Should i plant them to where only about 3 inches is above ground, and the rest of the stalk is below?





(my bean plant is long and spindly, but it is standing up straight, so i am not worried about it)

How deep do you plant tall spindly seedings?
with all seedlings (and small plants too) it is a good rule of thumb to plant them to their first fully developed leaf set. that way the plant has enough in the soil to anchor it and keep it stable. you might need to stake them later, but not too tight as the wind blowing the stalk will help make it stronger naturally. in peat pots, you should be able to plant the whole pot, just distress the sides enough to make a few good conduits for root development. it won't hurt them to plant them deep, as long as you have at leat one leaf set exposed to the sun for photosynthesis, the plant should just adapt to the shorter stalk and you will be fine. what kind of bean? most vine when they start to mature, so make sure it has something nearby that you want it to attach to, or it will vine up your sunflower stalks and choke them out. hope this helps.
Reply:Sunny is correct.
Reply:Plant them right away. Twelve inches apart. Mammoth means big.
Reply:Spindly plants usually means that they have not been getting enough sunlight. If they are in pots so you can move them around, put them in the sun for an hour each day and gradually lengthen the time they are in the sun til they have 8 hours of full sun a day. Gardening books call this 'hardening off' when they tolerate a full day of sun you can plant them.


Another thing you might try is if they are looking wilted soon after you water them, they are probably rootbound and need to be in a bigger flower pot. Sunflowers are not really good in flower pots though, but it's just a thought.
Reply:Sounds like you should have had the pots outside all along. If they haven't had the sunlight from outside, the sun may be too strong for them and they will die no matter what you do.





Try setting one of them out by carefully breaking the pot away and setting the dirt and all in the ground level with the potting mix. If they didn't have the right amount of sun while germinating and first growing, it will die but do it NOW!
Reply:I also agree with Sonny. It really sounds like he knows what he is talking about. And My mom is a bit of a flower freak and she says the same thing.
Reply:Plant it soon so it can get a good foundation. I just did the same thing I planted mine a little late and they did not get as tall as they should have.
Reply:real deep