Are my bell pepper seedlings Ok?

[Andy89]

I'm new to growing things and decided to grow some bell peppers.

The seedlings are 6 days old and I have noticed the leaves pointing straight up in the evenings.

I've tried looking for information but can't seem to find any with my concern so any help would be grateful.

By the way the picture was when the seedling were 1 day old.. Now they are 6 days old.

Thanks, Andy

[PaulF]

They look like they are stretching for the light. I use florescent lights and have the bulbs about an inch above the leaves and move the lights up as the plant grows. I find peppers like heat and I keep mine at 85 degrees F. Other than that, they look healthy. Those are the cotyledon leaves and are not true leaves. The regular leaves will sprout out soon if they have not done so already.

[rainbowgardener]

But that is pretty typical and as long as they open up again in the daytime they are fine.

What you are looking for when your plants are a few weeks farther on is like this:



short, stocky, leafy plants.

If they start looking like this:



or this:



paler, tall and spindly, with a lot of stem length between the leaf nodes, leaning towards the light
then they are not getting enough light.

[Andy89]

Thanks for the replies.
This is them this morning. They all open their leaves back up. My temperature is between 21°C - 24°C (70-75F).

I'm using an 225 LED grow light that is about 10 inches above the top of the plants, should I bring the light closer do you think?

Thanks once again. All information is greatly appreciated.

[SQWIB]

Rainbowgardener, great illustration.

Andy, I am not familiar with your grow light but on mine I try to keep the lights 2-4" from the plant. Heat is sometimes a problem with some grow lights but you should be fine with led's

Sometimes the distance is greater but can't be helped due to the varying height of the plants.
Also a fan helps to prevent dampening off and to make the stems stockier.
If you are on a heat mat, remove them from the mat, you only need the heat mat for germination, if left on the heat mat that can also cause legginess.

[PaulF]

Excellent photos from SQUIB. That is where the lights should be placed. Rainbow shows what can happen if the plants stretch too hard to the light. You should be ready to grow. Good luck.

[Andy89]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have lowered my light now and I am just awaiting delivery on my fan, should be here tomorrow then I can get that set up. As for the heated propagator I'm using I did originally turn it off when the seedlings broke the surface. I only turned it back on yesterday as I started to sow some more seeds. I will remove my peppers from the heat and get them set up on their own.

Thanks guys!

[SQWIB]

Thanks for all the feedback. I have lowered my light now and I am just awaiting delivery on my fan, should be here tomorrow then I can get that set up. As for the heated propagator I'm using I did originally turn it off when the seedlings broke the surface. I only turned it back on yesterday as I started to sow some more seeds. I will remove my peppers from the heat and get them set up on their own.

Thanks guys!

That is the exact reason I plant in cell packs, when I get 80% germination I remove that cell pack from the heated mat and transfer to a non heated mat.




I do however broadcast seed my peppers and leeks.




You can see by this photo that the germination area is the one with the dome and heat pad and the others are directly under the light. You do have to be careful using a dome as it can be more trouble than its worth, however, I have had no problems YET!!

[rainbowgardener]

I usually leave my seedlings on the heat mats at least until they get the first pair of true leaves, sometimes two pair. It gets them to the true leaf stage quicker and doesn't seem to result in any noticeable legginess at that stage. I do definitely get them off the heat after that.

[SQWIB]

I usually leave my seedlings on the heat mats at least until they get the first pair of true leaves, sometimes two pair. It gets them to the true leaf stage quicker and doesn't seem to result in any noticeable legginess at that stage. I do definitely get them off the heat after that.

Especially if you are starting in a cooler area.

[Andy89]

Well the temperature is around 21-25°C where my peppers are. It helped a bit when I lowered my light. I'm just happy to hear from you guys that they aren't doing too bad. Hopefully the first set of true leaves should be out in a day or two as I can just see them sprouting between the cotyledon leaves.

Do you guys recommend pruning the plants as they grow to get more side shoots and make the plant sturdier?

[PaulF]

I am a "never pruner", especially peppers and never anything until they get planted in the ground outside. Tomatoes only the leaves and branches touching the ground at the bottom of the plant.

[Andy89]

Well being as I have 13 seedlings, I might grow a few naturally and prune some so I can see the difference for myself being as I'm new to all this. Hopefully it will help broaden my knowledge a bit, see what works best for me.

[rainbowgardener]

This is just an opinion, but personally I don't see the point of pruning peppers unless you are getting ready to bring them in for the winter. If you want to over winter them, then you really do need to prune them at that point. Otherwise I don't touch mine.