HELP! - Tomato, peppers and others not starting well

Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:35 pm

Hello all, brand new to the forum. This is my first time starting seeds indoors. I'm having a bit of trouble. I bought a 4' shop light with 2 plant bulbs. I am also using a 72 cell Jiffy greenhouse. I started them out in my rec room where it is NOT heated. So I instead bought a head pad, put down a towel, and folded it up over the sides to keep the heat in. Every now and then, I'd take them in the house and put them over a heat register. This seemed to work ok and my tomatoes germinated in about a week and a half. They started out GREAT. After a week or so, a jalapeno came up, but was extremely leggy and drooped over in a matter of 2 days. Since then, everything else has come up (green peppers, banana peppers, serrano, basil, eggplant, etc etc) but quickly stopped. My tomatoes have not gotten any bigger and everything else has also halted progress. Now a lot of the seed leaves are getting some discolored tips. Another big mistake I think I made was watering them from the top and leaving the heat dome on through most of the process.

Today I finally moved them in the house with the plant lights and all. I have them about 4" from the tray hoping to rejuvenate them. Is it too late? Should I cut my losses and start all over?

One more issue too is I soaked my habanero and pablano seeds for 4 days before planting them and they still have yet to germinate. It's coming up on 4 weeks now.

HELP!!! I'm as green as they get with this stuff. Any tips or recommendations would be extremely helpful! Thanks!

Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:31 pm

Overwatered........

Also when you water only water the soil itself.

I take my domes off once I get most sprouting..... and they come off the heating pad too.

Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:23 am

I take domes off and remove them from heating mats as soon as the first seed pops up!

Mike

Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:28 am

Hello, welcome to the forum. You mention that you used a jiffy greenhouse, but not what type starting medium. Did you use jiffy peat pellets? I've never had any luck with those. Also , I don't start everthing in the same tray because, most seeds have different germination times.

As soon as the first sprouts appear , I take them off the heat and place under my grow lights. If I use a dome, sometimes I don't, that comes off too.

Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:55 am

-- The dome typically forces you to position the light tubes too high.
-- Usually seed soaking is only done "overnight" -- that said, I've never grown habs. Hot peppers usually take longer and benefit from more heat to germinate.

Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:02 am

If your heating pad has different settings, try the one that gives 82-88 degrees. If it is too high, they will sprout but struggle under the heat.

Out of the dome and off the pads.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:30 pm

Thanks everyone!! Since I posted this, I moved my entire setup indoors, took away the heat mat, took the lid off, and my seedlings seem to be coming back to life. I have had a hungarian wax pepper shoot up, taller than my biggest tomato plant now. The cold was definitely a major problem, even with the heat mat/dome. Most of my seedlings are too far gone to resurrect now, but I still have time to start over.

About the habs...on the packet is said to soak for 4 days prior to sowing, but everywhere I have read online said in warm water overnight. I'm thinking that may be part of the problem. Serrano's aren't sprouting yet either. I may start a 2nd tray and do it RIGHT this time with seeds I think are too far gone to do anything.

Thanks for all the advice! Greatly appreciated.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:14 pm

ozark_rocks wrote:You mention that you used a jiffy greenhouse, but not what type starting medium. Did you use jiffy peat pellets?

Forgot to answer this question! I am using the Jiffy organic seed starting mix.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:50 pm

Sorry all the chain of posts, but one other quick question. I see everyone's suggestion to get seedlings under light AFTER they germinate. It wouldn't hurt to keep them under light after sowing would it? Right now I planted two more tomatoes in peat pots under a 4' shop light. I wouldn't see any harm in that, but I'm also brand new.

Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:13 pm

JLudin wrote:Sorry all the chain of posts, but one other quick question. I see everyone's suggestion to get seedlings under light AFTER they germinate. It wouldn't hurt to keep them under light after sowing would it? Right now I planted two more tomatoes in peat pots under a 4' shop light. I wouldn't see any harm in that, but I'm also brand new.

No harm in it, but it isn't necessary .