Hey everyone! It’s been a little over a week since I started a few of my seeds and I wanted to give an update on how the small plants are looking. In case you missed my first post, I had started a few seeds indoors. So far this has only encompassed tomatoes and peppers, but I am going to start some more this weekend. Now that the background is out of the way, on to the plants!
After a week, the plants are looking great. Almost all are coming up and look healthy. Some of the tomatoes are even getting to be several inches tall. I am not sure why, but the Keystone Green Peppers did not come up like the others. So I guess that means I will be having to replant them, but I will give them another couple of days just in case they are late bloomers. Besides replanting some of the peppers this weekend, I will be trying to start some cabbage and starting onions in some containers.
Something we have noticed is that whenever we start our plants near our woodstove, they always take off and grow extremely fast. A problem that I always seem to face is that the plants will get real tall and grow fast, but then after a few days they topple over and die off. It’s almost as if the plants are growing too fast and the stems cannot keep up with the speedy growth. This is my best guess as to why they are not surviving very long. What do you think? Have you experienced this problem?
One thing I am trying this year is that I am putting a fan near them to hopefully strengthen their stems. I am hoping that it will get warmer soon, then I will be able to put them outside for a couple of hours and they will do better. Do any of you have any ideas for me to try? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I look forward to hearing your suggestions and thanks for reading!
My friend said if they are growing tall and leggy and look very week it's because they are not getting enough light so they are growing fast and tall to reach for the light
They are in a south facing window, but I only think they are getting light for a couple of hours. It would make sense that they are not getting enough light and that what would be causing them to be weak looking, so I will try to rig something up so they can have access to more light. Thanks for checking with your friend @silverd510 and please tell him I said thanks for the help :)
No problem at all buddy. He said your best bet if you can't put them outside because of the cold is to buy a very strong bright light to put over them for atleast 8 hours a day. Hope this helps, he isn expert.
And maybe @knowledge-seeker need to use uv lamps if there is not enough sun light at the window?
It may be that your plants are getting too warm - I suggest moving them away from your fireplace as soon as they germinate and putting them in a very light place :) I may be wrong but its worth a try - hope this helps.
That is something to consider and I will give it a try, thanks for the suggestions!
I don’t personally know but i have a good friend that probably would. He’s an organic farmer. I’ll ask for you.
The elongated stems means you need more light. If you use supplemental lighting the plants should be kept just below the light source.
The toppling and dying could be from damping off, a fungal disease. Try sterilizing your soil by pasteurizing in the oven or use a soilless starting mix. And water from the bottom.
Here's a look at one of my starts. I use a 3 tube LED grow light for 12 hours a day. I also brush the top of the plants with my hand twice a day. You could use a fan, but I like the personal touch.
Okay thanks for the suggestions. I am going to setup a small portable green house where I can put them outside during the day or a grow light if its too cold. I am going to see if that helps with the lighting issue. Thanks for the suggestions.
I have a garden, and your plants, your garden, looks great. Do you have to worry about bugs or anything trying to eat up your food, your peppers, or anything?
We have not really had many issues with bugs in our garden. The only issues we have ever had were with tomato worms and potato bugs. When we see them on the plants we pick them off and get rid of them and that usually takes care of the problem. Thanks for stopping by.
Leggy plants! I have the same problem, but my do not die...I haven't quite figured it out yet. But in your case. AS soon as germination is seen take them to a cooler temperature control area and they should be getting 10+ hours of light, use supplemental lighting if you can.
I germinate in a toasty room, then move them to my cooler basemnet and put under a grow light as soon as germination. The grow light in on a timer for 14hours. I am still trying to figure out the legginess as I still get it...it might be the distant i have the grow...i have been experimenting but haven't figured it out especially on my broccoli starts!
I have heard of some brushing the plants slightly everyday to strengthen them up. I am trying a fan and putting it on a low setting to blow on them for a few minutes every couple of days, so I am waiting to see if that will help. I am going to try to get a small portable green house set up, so I can make sure they are getting plenty of light. Thanks for your comment.
A small fan on low will create the wind needed to stiffen the stocks and help stop the plants for damping off if that is what is killing them. They are running for the light in the window but the fan should slow them down.
Good luck happy gardening
Thanks. The fan seems to be helping a little, but I am going to get something worked out to get them more light. I think if I can do that then it will eliminate the problem.
Thanks for stopping by.
Could they be damping off?
Here's a couple of off site links to check it out...
Thanks @wizardave! I will give these links a look and hopefully I will get a few ideas to try.
welcome