Newbie starting seeds indoors

[flyboy718]

I'd think maybe the light was not strong enough. From your photo and what you said, I don't think you have a good light on them after they sprouted. You did say you were going to get a light on them.

They don't need light to sprout. They'll sprout if they are totally covered in dirt and in the dark from the dirt, but once they start to grow, they need bright light. Otherwise they stretch to get to what light they can find.

K, so I waited too long to get a light on them...I got a light last night and this morning I turned it on for the first time for them. Recon I should scratch these and start some new ones and get a light on them immediately when they sprout or just push forward with these?

 

[nachoqtpie]

Really don't see why you would want to start over. They should recover.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's not always a clear decision, especially when you are there looking at them and I am here. And you have to suffer the consequences of it, I don't.

Can you try both? It looks like you have room in that tray or even get another tray.. Put bright light on those and see what happens. With good light, they could easily straighten themselves out. With a bright light close to them they may stop growing longer and instead thicken up. Some of mine look kind of spindly when they start out but they usually grow OK. There are different degrees of spindly. And with some things like peppers, tomatoes, and cabbage, you can plant them deep and bury a lot of problems. If the stem thickens up, it is not a problem.

In the meantime, start some more. Find a way to cover them to keep them from drying out while sprouting, and see which ones you like best. It's your first time trying to start them indoors. Don't be afraid to try different things and you'll see for yourself what the limits are. Even with total failure, you learn a few things about next year and go buy some transplants for this year. I don't expect you to see total failure. You are not really in a desperate situation so don't over stress about it.

Some people have a philosophical problem throwing out extra plants. I don't especially like doing it myself, but every year I start too many just so I have enough and I only plant the best ones and only as many as I have room for. The rest go to the compost heap or occasionally friends, depending on how bad they really are. And some usually get used to replant ones that don't make it, such as cutworm damage or they just die when I transplant them.

 

[flyboy718]

That's not always a clear decision, especially when you are there looking at them and I am here. And you have to suffer the consequences of it, I don't.

Can you try both? It looks like you have room in that tray or even get another tray.. Put bright light on those and see what happens. With good light, they could easily straighten themselves out. With a bright light close to them they may stop growing longer and instead thicken up. Some of mine look kind of spindly when they start out but they usually grow OK. There are different degrees of spindly. And with some things like peppers, tomatoes, and cabbage, you can plant them deep and bury a lot of problems. If the stem thickens up, it is not a problem.

In the meantime, start some more. Find a way to cover them to keep them from drying out while sprouting, and see which ones you like best. It's your first time trying to start them indoors. Don't be afraid to try different things and you'll see for yourself what the limits are. Even with total failure, you learn a few things about next year and go buy some transplants for this year. I don't expect you to see total failure. You are not really in a desperate situation so don't over stress about it.

Some people have a philosophical problem throwing out extra plants. I don't especially like doing it myself, but every year I start too many just so I have enough and I only plant the best ones and only as many as I have room for. The rest go to the compost heap or occasionally friends, depending on how bad they really are. And some usually get used to replant ones that don't make it, such as cutworm damage or they just die when I transplant them.

Thanks! I put the light on them this morning and put it less than an inch from them, that was my thought process was to get them a little stocky maybe for a week then raise the light. Yeap, going to get some more started for the rest of the garden soon.

 

[Dave2000]

Yeah, definitely give them as much light as possible the moment they're poking up out of the ground. Those may turn out ok, but personally I would start over with it being this early in the year. Shorter denser plants seem to have less of a problem pumping water/nutrients and are more wind resistant when mature, but this early in their life cycle, adding light may be enough.

 

[jhook1997]

I'd think maybe the light was not strong enough. From your photo and what you said, I don't think you have a good light on them after they sprouted. You did say you were going to get a light on them.

They don't need light to sprout. They'll sprout if they are totally covered in dirt and in the dark from the dirt, but once they start to grow, they need bright light. Otherwise they stretch to get to what light they can find.

K, so I waited too long to get a light on them...I got a light last night and this morning I turned it on for the first time for them. Recon I should scratch these and start some new ones and get a light on them immediately when they sprout or just push forward with these?

Don't start over! I'm a first time seed started this year too and I made the same mistake with the light. I ended up with a bunch of "leggy" plants...all kinds. I also used the Jiffy pellets and my lights were immediate but too far away. So anyway, I took all the really tall ones and VERY CAREFULLY repotted them in 2" pots, putting the pellet all the way at the bottom and filling the pot with dirt. Some were so tall that I actually mounded up the potting soil. After planting all these deeper and getting them closer to the lights, almost all are looking healthy and are growing.