I had that happen several times this year. This was the first year making my own seed starting mix. Hopefully that was not the cause.
False-Can-6608
It may eventually come off. If not, I usually put a drop of water on it, leave it for a few to soften…and then very slowly, very carefully pull it off. The leaves are all squished up under there.
Foodie_love17
Helmet head! Some seeds are more prone than others, low humidity or big swings. Heat mats can also increase the chances due to encouraging the seed to emerge faster.
External-Adeptness88
I usually just mist it with a spray bottle a couple times a day to soften the seed shell and let the leaves come out. You can manually get it off but be careful or youll rip its head off😳.
FishAndRiceKeks
Constantly. If you plant a bit deeper they usually get the shell off but it’s less likely the shallower you go.
150Dgr
I was lucky and only had 2 out of 36 do this this year. I pulled the 2nd off a few hours ago. If it doesn’t remedy itself in a day or 2 then keep it wet for a couple hours and very gently pull it off. I used a very small blade screwdriver and a tweezers.
Ok_Sky8518
I was bad at removing the head off one of my lemon boyz and the cotyledon broke a lot. But the plant did grow its true leaves and recovered pretty well
CitrusBelt
With “helmetheads”, they’ll *usually* pop off on their own; if they stick after a few days you can usually pull them off very gently or just cut them off of the cotyledons’ tips.
But yeah, sometimes you get one that’s stronger than the seed leaves are; very annoying!
[My theory is that it happens more with seeds that are sown a little bit too shallow and have really fine-grained/light soil covering them (or both). Like they came up too easily and too fast, and popped up before the seed got soft?? Seems to happen more often with peppers than tomatoes, but more often with larger-seeded tomatoes than smaller-seeded ones (for me, at least). But I only do a few hundred a year, so that isn’t a very large sample size]
TheAngryCheeto
I’ve been spraying mine with water and letting it sit for 10 minutes and then gently pulling them off. It usually works but I have lost a couple
Ishmaille
This happens a lot to me, more to my peppers than to my tomatoes. No matter what I do it seems to mess up the seed leaves a little bit. The plant always recovers but it slows down the early growth a little bit.
LoudAuthor4000
I had this on one of my zucchini plants this morning.
souryellow310
I used to get that a lot until I started planting them half inch deep instead of quarter inch.
sycamoretreehugger
Gotta plant them a little deeper. I think the soil provides resistance for the leaves to pull themselves out of the seed casing.
kirby83
I’ve heard if you lick your fingers then touch it slightly they usually come off
FraughtTurnip89
Planted some inciardi paste, the packet said 1/8 inch deep, they all came up like that. The rest I planted 1/4 inch came up with no issue
The-CannabisAnalyst3
Helmet Head , some say 1/4″ depth but I do a lil deeper maybe 1/2″, I learned from my 1st grow last year
horsethiefjack
This also happens with cannabis often. Like others have said, spritz with water and use tweezers to gently pull off. Some are trickier than others. You’ll want to get it off ASAP though.
19 Comments
I had that happen several times this year. This was the first year making my own seed starting mix. Hopefully that was not the cause.
It may eventually come off. If not, I usually put a drop of water on it, leave it for a few to soften…and then very slowly, very carefully pull it off. The leaves are all squished up under there.
Helmet head! Some seeds are more prone than others, low humidity or big swings. Heat mats can also increase the chances due to encouraging the seed to emerge faster.
I usually just mist it with a spray bottle a couple times a day to soften the seed shell and let the leaves come out. You can manually get it off but be careful or youll rip its head off😳.
Constantly. If you plant a bit deeper they usually get the shell off but it’s less likely the shallower you go.
I was lucky and only had 2 out of 36 do this this year. I pulled the 2nd off a few hours ago. If it doesn’t remedy itself in a day or 2 then keep it wet for a couple hours and very gently pull it off. I used a very small blade screwdriver and a tweezers.
I was bad at removing the head off one of my lemon boyz and the cotyledon broke a lot. But the plant did grow its true leaves and recovered pretty well
With “helmetheads”, they’ll *usually* pop off on their own; if they stick after a few days you can usually pull them off very gently or just cut them off of the cotyledons’ tips.
But yeah, sometimes you get one that’s stronger than the seed leaves are; very annoying!
[My theory is that it happens more with seeds that are sown a little bit too shallow and have really fine-grained/light soil covering them (or both). Like they came up too easily and too fast, and popped up before the seed got soft?? Seems to happen more often with peppers than tomatoes, but more often with larger-seeded tomatoes than smaller-seeded ones (for me, at least). But I only do a few hundred a year, so that isn’t a very large sample size]
I’ve been spraying mine with water and letting it sit for 10 minutes and then gently pulling them off. It usually works but I have lost a couple
This happens a lot to me, more to my peppers than to my tomatoes. No matter what I do it seems to mess up the seed leaves a little bit. The plant always recovers but it slows down the early growth a little bit.
I had this on one of my zucchini plants this morning.
I used to get that a lot until I started planting them half inch deep instead of quarter inch.
Gotta plant them a little deeper. I think the soil provides resistance for the leaves to pull themselves out of the seed casing.
I’ve heard if you lick your fingers then touch it slightly they usually come off
Planted some inciardi paste, the packet said 1/8 inch deep, they all came up like that. The rest I planted 1/4 inch came up with no issue
Helmet Head , some say 1/4″ depth but I do a lil deeper maybe 1/2″, I learned from my 1st grow last year
This also happens with cannabis often. Like others have said, spritz with water and use tweezers to gently pull off. Some are trickier than others. You’ll want to get it off ASAP though.
Spray bottle.
Almost all for me. They come if by themselves.