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[Robert Walton <waltonrp AT gmail.com>]

> A friend of mine is sprouting her broccoli seeds under lights in her house. 
>  The bottom leaves (the ones that are not true leaves) of the broccoli 
> plants are turning yellow.  Having never grown them myself from seed I 
> don't know what to tell her.  Is it worth worrying about as long as they 
> are the first set?  They are about 5 weeks old and she has sprayed them 
> with fish emulsion.  This is her first adventure with sprouting seeds for 
> her garden.  She is very protective of these plants :)))  She is hoping to 
> plant them outside in the next week or so, if it stops freezing that is.
> What say you folks who live in my area, James, Rob, Bev...???

I assume that they have more than just the two first leaves? Are the
real leaves turning yellow? Her soil mix might be too lean. If she is
going to plant them out, she should harden them off soon. Start with
just a little light and then move them slowly to full sunlight. Don't
leave them out on freezing nights at first.

The first leaves should turn yellow and drop off. If the rest of the
leaves look healthy she is good. If they are 5 weeks old and don't
have true leaves yet, she better buy sets.

I'm probably a little ahead of you, but I am putting out tomato and
pepper plants on warm days and my broccoli are in and the extra plants
are spending all of their time outside.

Rob - Va