How Long to Fan Seedlings?

RosieRenee · Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:36 pm

I have many veggie and annual flower seedlings in my very sunny and warm south-facing window. We have a small fan to fan them to make sure they get a dose of wind before they go outside. We've been "fanning" for about 20-30 minutes twice a day. Are there opinoins on if that is enough? Thank you.

Gary350 · Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:40 am

Do as mother nature does, wind all the time, day and night.

applestar · Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:32 am

I think you want it to be a little longer. What you are doing is putting them through RESISTANCE TRAINING. My ideal would be a couple of hours twice a day, but I'm currently stuck with a single setting timer so I'm running mine for 4 hrs in the afternoon to be sure the foliage is dry before night time.

Running the fan constantly will be too drying and will risk chance of the seedling soil drying out.

I also make a point of "bothering" the seedlings by misting pretty roughly with a hand sprayer every morning (I can smell tomato foliage when I do, so I'm definitely stinging them a little

) and by NOT being careful about knocking the foliage around when I turn the trays for even light coverage every day or every other day, or when I rearrange them according to height to be close to the light tubes, etc. (approx. once a week).

It's also a good to expose them to lower temperature during the night -- about 10Ã‚Â°F or more difference between day and night.

SOB · Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:01 am

I always keep my fan on as long as my grow lights are on which is 16 hours a day (they are on the same timer). It never seems to dry the soil out too much as I water about once every 2-3 days. I find that my plants are MUCH sturdier then most.

applestar · Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:30 am

Do you use an scillating fan?

SOB · Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:18 pm

Yes I use an oscillating fan. I also turn the trays daily so that they get "exercised" from both directions.

PunkRotten · Mon Mar 18, 2013 4:39 pm

I have not been fanning mine so I guess I will start.

PunkRotten · Mon Mar 18, 2013 4:41 pm

Also what is the benefit of misting them? I thought tomatoes should not have their foliage wet.

applestar · Tue Mar 19, 2013 1:01 pm

Here it's still cold -- 20's at night, 40-50's during the day so the heater is running constantly and this is the time of the year when humidity in the house is at all time low.

I thoroughly spray the seedlings in the morning with filtered water as I do all my indoor plants. I believe in "morning dew" -- it makes all the difference for my winter indoor plants. (Last year, I was ill for a time and asn't able to do this and all my plants visiblly suffered, which, to me, re-emphasized the requirement.)

SLC · Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:00 pm

I was wondering this too. Last year I didn't have a fan on them and although the plants worked out, I think it might be better to try and sturdy them up better this year. Only problem is I don't have an oscillating fan. Does it matter? I have a small fan I can set up and maybe move the direction periodically. But I can't leave it on all day. How long do you think is the minimum to fan the plants?

Also, how big should the seedlings before you start fanning them?

SOB · Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:20 pm

I think any type of fanning will help whether it's an oscillating fan, a non-oscillating fan that gets moved around or a small child that gets paid to hand fan them it will all benefit them in the end.

As for when to start I like to wait until I up-pot my seedlings before I start fanning. I find that my seedlings start a little leggy when they first sprout and if I fan them all they do is fall over. After they are up-potted they are plated deep and are not leggy at all so they cant be blown over.

madonnaswimmer · Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:02 pm

SOB wrote:As for when to start I like to wait until I up-pot my seedlings before I start fanning. I find that my seedlings start a little leggy when they first sprout and if I fan them all they do is fall over. After they are up-potted they are plated deep and are not leggy at all so they cant be blown over.

I have never up-potted my seedlings-- is this necessary for all seedlings, or just for certain ones? Last year I had a 72-cell starter and I was considering having two of those this year. Could you just fill the wells 3/4 full, and once the seedlings are large enough, add the rest of the soil?