Rainy days and Sundays always get me down when I can not garden!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

What The BOLT?!?....going to seed...

Spinach seedlings that went to seed.  

Bolting is a natural life cycle or survival technique that plants use to perpetuate the next generation.  As gardeners, we consider bolting as premature, often happening before we are ready to harvest.  Energy, normally spent on the edible parts of the plant is spent on producing flowers and seeds, leaving the plant woody, tasteless or bitter, and rendering the plant useless for consumption.
Bolting, or "going to seed" is brought on by temperature, light length, inadequate water, overcrowding,  and other stresses, and triggered by the plants hormones.   

These spinach seedlings bolted on me after I left them under the grow light for to long.

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