Seed starting - how can I grow a stronger plant?

OhiohillsLouise
OhiohillsLouise Posts: 120 ✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Vegetables

I start my own seed in the spring and l’m usually successful but it seems my stocks are usually kind of spindly. I buy seed starter mix, transplant to a larger container early, and use a grow light. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • Jens the Beekeeper
    Jens the Beekeeper Posts: 651 admin

    My experience is that you need a lot of light but only at the beginning for sprouting heat.

    The warmer the seedlings are kept the more light they need. Professional tomato or pepper seedlings are kept quite cold ones they are germinated to produce a sturdy plant and need less light.

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    If you have a fan blow on them just slightly (just so they move) then your plants will develop good strong stems.

  • OhiohillsLouise
    OhiohillsLouise Posts: 120 ✭✭✭

    @Jens I keep my plants in my living room where it is warm, so maybe I need to move them to my cool basement, they are under grow lights so no window is needed. Thanks for that bit of knowledge that I’ve never heard before.

    @chimboodle04 thank you I will dig out the fan and try that too.

  • EarlKelly
    EarlKelly Posts: 230 ✭✭✭

    @Louise how far away is your grow light? I would try moving that closer too. Sounds like that is what they are reaching for. I would try about an inch from the seedlings. Then as they improve you can move it a little farther away. Good luck and stay safe.

  • Melinda
    Melinda Posts: 123 ✭✭✭

    If you have them in a greenhouse, make sure to open a window for a few hours each day. I learned that from Monty Don and it works.

  • OhiohillsLouise
    OhiohillsLouise Posts: 120 ✭✭✭

    @EarlKelly I should have been more clear in my description, not so much too tall but more skinny, I keep the grow light close but my plant stems seem more skinny than the store bought varieties. Thanks for adding that information I am sure some of the readers will benefit from it.

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    @Louise Ideally you plant your seeds in the snow or directly in the ground. If you grow them outside of a greenhouse or hoophouse indoors, then they will be spindly as they are not getting direct sunlight. I stopped starting seeds indoors back in 2003 or 2004 exactly because of this issue.

  • Melissa Swartz
    Melissa Swartz Posts: 270 ✭✭✭

    I've had the same spindly stalk problem. chimboodle04 the fan idea is great. I'll be trying that.

  • MissPatricia
    MissPatricia Posts: 318 ✭✭✭

    I am starting my seeds indoors. One of my big problems is transplanting them soon enough. This year I was waiting for someone to install my cattle panels as arches. When I felt how heavy and rigid they are, I did not think my husband and I could do it. They are now up. I lost some of my transplants, but right now I have just started tomato and pepper plants. I do know that the light has to be right or they will be spindly. I bought a potting soil which seems to give better results. I have always started my seeds outdoors until last year, but then I would not get tomatoes or peppers until August, for example.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Except for hot peppers, I start everything outside, even tomatoes. There are ways to get a head start outside. I usually start them the wintersowing method- it's a bit too fiddly for some people but it works for me. Basically, you make a mini-greenhouse out of milk jugs, disposable salad containers, etc. Make lots of holes in the container, fill with soil, soak the soil and let drain a few minutes, plant the seeds, put them outside and leave until spring. Almost anything that reseeds in your garden and transplants well is a good candidate for this. It is slower than starting inside, but faster than waiting to plant until its warm enough outside. Seeds started this way are usually very sturdy, and are already hardened-off. Most perennials and hardier herbs I would start in Jan- March, tomatoes I wait until April. If containers are in the sun and it gets in the 50's or higher, take off the lids.

    I used to start tomatoes inside, but I have limited window space, and my spring-sowed tomatoes started slower but were much sturdier. Once in the garden, the outdoor-started tomatoes caught up quickly with the indoor-started tomatoes. It's just so much easier to get enough sun outside.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    I have tried indoor planting, cold frames, and waiting until it is warm enough to direct seed. The latter is far less fuss but leads to tomatoes at the end of the summer. So what I am planning to do this year is put some in pots for early tomatoes, use the cold frame for some, and direct seed some things. Without a greenhouse it's so much effort to start lots of seeds indoors, but I ordered potato seeds, so they will need to go in pots as well, I think.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I am now running a ceiling fan intermittently to stimulate my indoor plants to grow stronger stems. Only time will tell...

  • AdrienneHew
    AdrienneHew Posts: 94 ✭✭✭

    Hmm... I live in the tropics with no greenhouse or appropriate indoor space to start, so I start outside in a sterile mix that includes compost and fish emulsion. Many things start fine, but then stay spindly and some of my peppers even have become yellow. I thought maybe they were getting too much water, but then one pepper plant volunteered right in front of the sprinkler and seems to be stronger and bigger than the rest, but if I give the other peppers more water, they fare no better.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I had this problem originally, but brighter grow lights and keeping the light within an inch or two of the top of the plant solved it.

    Tall, leggy plants with very thin stalks are usually a sign that the plant is not getting the light it needs.

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    @OhiohillsLouise If you start them inside, once they’ve germinated and start to grow up, just brush your hand over them lightly to stimulate movement or breeze, say 3 or 4 times a day, helps big time. When they’re sturdy enough, place outside for an hour or so, until your ready to plant out.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    @Jens the Beekeeper That is very interesting. I have to give it a try next year.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Jens the Beekeeper I also will be trying your information out come spring. Had never heard this before.

    chimboodle04 The fan idea makes sense. Have never tried the fan, Have only shaken the plants regularly. Might have to try a fan next time.