Grow lights, is there too much?

[Chuck]

Have you seen the double solo cup method? Holes in the first allowing roots additional room? I have not tried it, and wonder how to get them loose but I like the idea of not impeding root growth to prevent stunting.

So everything is growing well but purple tomato? That is an odd context. Are you sure its not nutrition? Seed mix is praised for drainage and sterility for emergence purposes.

I looked it up. It's on utube and all it does is allow you to water from the bottom up on your seedlings, a complete waste of a perfectly good cup. I do the same thing without the cups by putting the entire 6 pack or 12 pack of cells into a roasting pan half full of water, thereby saving at least 12 and maybe 24 cups for more important things like holding adult beverages.

 

[Ruderunner]

If the leaves were also purple it would be nutrition (phosphorus) but if just the stems they are a little too cool. And some varieties can withstand cooler temps than others. About all the purple stems will do is slow the growth somewhat but when placed outside in the sun they will lose the purple color and resume their normal growth.

I've not noticed any discoloration on the leaves but definitely on stems and these seedlings are taking longer than the first batch.

I thought about a space heater of some sort. But the wife suggested moving the plants into the shower in our guest bathroom. Much warmer and nobody is using it currently. I might change the shower head for one of the hand held ones for easy watering. Certainly easier than carrying a bucket downstairs.

 

[Ruderunner]

Update! We've moved from Ohio to California.

Seems like it anyway. Power has gone out just about every other day over the last week.

Plants are really not liking the excess dark time, plenty of yellow leaves but not from over watering.
And I noticed some purplish tomato leaves, time to start adding fertilizer when watering. It's not from too cool temperature at this point as this room is the warmest in the house, even with the vent closed.

Overall though, things seem happy enough, almost everything sprouted. Including about half of the seeds that were direct planted about a month ago. Turnips, broccoli and radishes are up, possibly some peas. No signs of beets, carrots or spinach yet.