National Gardening Week TUESDAY

Tuesday's word is:

Hypocotyl - this is a great word!  It is pronounced "hi-po-cot-ill".
Say it a again just to show you can!!

It is the name we give to the young stem of a seedling - the part below the seed leaves that develop.  The "seed leaves" are the first to grow and start photosynthesising to make food for the plant to grow.  Once "true leaves" grow these seed leaves die away as their function has been performed.

See how hairy these hypocotyls are?  These are tomato seedlings.  You can see the seed leaves with true leaves above.  When they are potted up, the hypocotyl can be sunk down into the compost so the seed leaves are just above it.  Roots will then grow out from it and this will help make a sturdy plant as it grows taller.

This is a pumpkin seedling - look at its large seed leaves!  Seed leaves are usually this simple shape.  True leaves will be different for each species of plant - the true leaves are growing well here.  Again,  I will bury the hypocotyl below the soil when I pot up these pumpkins.

Have a great day and please come back tomorrow to find out the next word!