seedlings,already giving trouble

[tdump]

Well so far so good, aint lost but the 1's I said earlier.
I outgrew my ironing boar table and had to get the old folding table out of my camper so I could put 2 more flats in here. today I planted 4 of each of all my peppers and tomatoes I want to grow. I forgot Better boy's for my dad so I got some seed off ebay and have them on the way. Along with Red cherry tomatoes. I have 9 different peppers planted in the fogged over flat.
I have white ,purple,yellow,green bell peppers, banana, a couple ghost pepers,and of course ceyanne and ornamental
I
And I think a total of 9 tomato types so far to. Sun sugar,another yellow cherry tomato,Ambrosia I think, Black cherry, marglobe, rutgers, Rowdy Reds, white Beefsteak, cant think of the others> I will be planting 4 red beef steaks as well as my lady friend wants to stuff those using a recipe she found.
I want some fun and different stuff this year!.
The 2 green self watering bottle things have a Rutger each in them. I have added soil twice now. As they got over 3 inches without soil.
The sweet taters are finally starting to get roots on them. That was tiny non useable 1's from my tiny crop last year.
I have my soil heater mat under the flat with the peppers in it.

[Vanisle_BC]

tdump, did you say your leeks sprouted up through five inches of soil? That sounds remarkable. I wonder what effect it would have on the distance to the first leaf-division.

[Peter1142]

IMHO your original seedlings died of drying out exacerbated by spindliness due to insufficient lighting.

I would give up on those brassica seedlings, sow new ones when you get a proper grow light, they are impossible to start indoors without one.

[Vanisle_BC]

.... when you get a proper grow light.....

Not to detract from what Peter said, note that ordinary household fluorescents will do the job. They don't even have to be labelled as grow lights but they do have to be down close to the plants - 2" is not too close.

[tdump]

Yep the leeks came thru at least 4 if not 5 inchs of the starting mix. I can see them thru the side of the plastic bottle.
Brasscias ? Um, I didn't know I had any cabbage? Help me on that.

[Vanisle_BC]

Brasscias ? Um, I didn't know I had any cabbage? Help me on that.

Sorry, I don't understand what that's about.

[Peter1142]

Sorry, I guess those are basil seedlings -- they look very similar, especially on my phone. You can just direct sow basil. Idk, those seedlings in the first post really look like brassicas to me (the live ones), they have that two lobed cotyledon. What are they? But the more recent pic is hard to tell from far away little leggy sprouts.

The leek seedlings grow in two directions. If you click on the link to my blog I started there is a cool onion germination video. I find it very hard to believe they would germinate through 4-5" of potting soil... but anything is possible.

[tdump]

Brasscias ? Um, I didn't know I had any cabbage? Help me on that.

Sorry, I don't understand what that's about.

I googled that word and it came up cabbage. Sorry!

yes those are basil in the round pots. I wanted to get it started early.
Here is the best I can do for a pic of the Leeks.
I watched these things grow right here beside the computer each day and can say ,they came up thru all that.
I tried to separate them but they are just to fine and tiny right now.
When I bought leeks in 2014 they were Bonnie plants and it was a "bunch" in a tiny round pot and it took me several hours to separate and handle each 1. Next time I plant these things I am going to figure out a way to put 2 or 3 seeds in a pot! To heck with all this playing with hairs!

[tdump]

I planted 4 of each of my peppers and tomatoes Saturday about 2 pm. Today at 12 I had 2 white beefsteaks and 2 black cherry's already popped up! Then at 4, I had a couple Roma's and 2 Rutgers and a Ambrosia popping up! Amazing how quick they came up!

[tdump]

Well I got 1 of the 2 bulbs I ordered off ebay that came from a chinese vendor. Red and blue led's. Not much heat but not a very large area covered. I think if I make a bracket to put it straight down over a flat it will light a flat ok. But not more area than that.
Should be getting another 1 soon as I got 2 at the same time.
I found a flouresent light I can use also,gota get it hung. I got more seedlings now than light!

[applestar]

Try to create reflective surfaces to maximize lighting. Put up walls (tape to wall, shelves, poster board, cardboard, etc) to surround the seedling area or hang like curtains.

I recycle/re-use inside of chip bags that are white or shiny mylar. I also line the reflector of shoplights if they are not painted white or mirror metal using mylar emergency blanket cut to fit.

[tdump]

Good idea on the reflective stuff.
I think I have a better setup. I had a extra 4 foot shop light fixture and a stack of bulbs. I was shocked when I found 1 of the bulbs was for plants and aquarium use! So of course it and a regular cool white are in the fixture. I threw together the wood thing to hang it from and I hope this helps as I am getting alot of stuff coming up and I want it to be successful.
Thanks for the help
The photo makes it look kinda dim but it is bright under those 2 4 foot bulbs.

[Vanisle_BC]

tdump, are you remembering to get the lights down within 2 - 3 inches of the plants? I know it looks bright to the eye but to the plants it is "pretty dim."

[tdump]

It's about 6 because any closer it does not seem to "cover" the whole flat.The little seedlings are pointing towards the 2 4 foot bulbs so apparently they are happier than before.

edit,lowered it 2 chain links closer,Maby that will work better.
The little led bulb I got would work ok maby for a couple potted plants but it's spread is just not big at all.

[NJ Bob]

Looks to me like you've got 8 feet of plants and 4 feet of lighting. You really need to get the lights within a few inches of your plants. You can alternate your flats under the lights 12 hours in/12 hours out but if you can it'd be easier to just get another 4 foot fixture and a couple of bulbs.

[Vanisle_BC]

tdump, I'm not sure about details of your setup but here's mine: Plant trays are on a 4' wide table (used to be a home-made darkroom sink ). Over it, hanging on a rope & pulley arrangement, are 2 double-tube fluorescent fixtures fastened together side by side with wooden cross-battens. So the whole lighting thing is about 4x4 feet. For attending to the plants I can raise the lights high and secure the rope. For adjusting their distance beneath the lowered lights I just prop the trays on bits of wood or whatever is handy; or I can use the rope to tie the lights at various heights. The whole thing is quite hokey and very low-tech. I'll try to do some pictures tomorrow, and post them here.

Right now I have seedlings of leek, onion & parsley under the lights but the past couple of days I've had them out for a few hours in the daylight (not sun), starting to harden them off. Temperature has been around 7-8 degrees (C. !!)

[tdump]

well I put the onion seedlings in the cold frame along with the black seed lettuce. Then I put the cilantra and parsley stuff in a flat under a led bulb I got from ebay. a 2 watt 1 with red and blue led's . I aint so sure that thing is worth the manure it would take to bury it in the yard!
Anyhow, here is the way it looks now. The sweet taters, they had started putting out, but I put them under the light this morning, and Wow, they have jumped just during today.

[Vanisle_BC]

I promised to post some pictures of my lighting setup for raising seedlings indoors. I'm a day late but here they are. I said earlier that I used two double-tube units battened together but that was originally; now I have a single 4-tube fixture.

(They uploaded in the reverse of the order I intended)

The white thing on top is an electronic timer. I used to use mechanical ones but they have plastic gears that soon wear out. The electronic one's more expensive and a bit of a puzzle to program but has been working well for a few years.

[tdump]

thanks for posting your setup. Gives me ideas for when I have a little better place figured out to set this stuff up as in the bedroom is a bit impractical although it is already 72 degrees and not heating a area just for plants.

, I may still be a inch or 2 to high with my lights but the maters seem happier as they are putting on more leaves in the middle today, tiny but barely visible.I think they call them True leaves?. they are going to make it I think!

[tdump]

Some of my maters are making their True leaves! I think you folks have helped me enough I will have some valid plants this year. I grew a few last year but they did not do well. So this year is already looking better.

I have 10 different tomatoes planted now and I think 8 peppers so far and 2 more types are ordered.
Amazing what just a short week or 2 can do.

[tdump]

Just thought I would update, seems the plants are happy!

[rainbowgardener]

Looking good!!!

[applestar]

Yep looks good!

At this point, what will help is to cut apart the blocks of cells (not into individual single cells but blocks or they will fall over) and group them so that the shorter seedlings can be placed on risers/higher and closer to the lights. See how the little ones are twice or even 3x as far from the lights as the taller ones?

I call this "Seedling Jenga"

[Peter1142]

Looking good congrats.

The ones in the pots on the left are leggy and struggling for light, looks like they would be better to go on the end there where you have water bottles.

[tdump]

Oh those bottles are selfwatering pots with plants in them. I can set that 1 flat up on a couple brick, that should help! Thanks for the hints.
Those leggy basil are just annoying, I have done everything but put them in a satellite and send them to the sun and they just aint doing well.

[Peter1142]

They want to be 2" from the light. The smaller seedlings benefit the most from being close to the lights.

[tdump]

Just a update, I have been putting them outside all day this week, 70's temps and sun.
My watermelons and such planted monday night are already coming up to.
Some of the tomatoes you can see I re-potted.
Squash are enjoying their view of the sun from inside my work shop window.
There is also 2 ornamental hot peppers I saved from last year in pots in the window,I think they are going to work out to be productive this year!

[tdump]

Well here is all the plants in the window. I have forgot how long they have been there. About 2 weeks I think. I finally got to feeling good enough to do some work and built a shelf for them and such.
Some tomatoes have had repotomies and are out growing those bigger pots.
Hope to get some put out in the garden in a couple weeks.

[rainbowgardener]

Wow! Get those tomatoes out in some sunshine. They are very leggy, long and thin and stretched, due to not enough light.

Even if you have to bring them back in at night for awhile, they will do much better with sun.