Hi Folks
Living in New England (CT), I’ve learned a lot starting vegetable seedlings indoors (mostly tomatoes and peppers) over the last couple of years. I used to have pretty poor luck but got much better results with the addition of a heating mat and a pair of florescent bulbs in a basic shop fixture.
Unfortunately, I’ve been having some issues once again this year, and I’m wondering if it could be at all related to the cooler-than-usual Spring we’ve had. I started my seedlings a couple of weeks earlier this year (mid-March instead of late-March), and the room where I have my sprouting setup is an unheated though fully-covered porch, so evening temperatures certainly have been dipping down into the 40s.
I had excellent germination of my mostly tomato and pepper seeds, but it’s been almost 6 weeks and the tomato seedlings seem “leggy,” and still haven’t grown their first true set of leaves:
As for the pepper seedlings, I had excellent germination rates with them, too, but now they all seem to be drooping and dying, and none of them have gotten their first true set of leaves either:
I turned off the heating mat after everything germinated, although I’ve now wondered if I should have left it on longer, possibly overnight. The lights are hanging a few inches above the seedlings and are on for 16 hours a day. I’ve tried to be mindful of watering them correctly (not too much, not too little), and the seedlings are in a nice coconut husk sprouting medium.
Any thoughts/advice?
Thanks in advance…
Living in New England (CT), I’ve learned a lot starting vegetable seedlings indoors (mostly tomatoes and peppers) over the last couple of years. I used to have pretty poor luck but got much better results with the addition of a heating mat and a pair of florescent bulbs in a basic shop fixture.
Unfortunately, I’ve been having some issues once again this year, and I’m wondering if it could be at all related to the cooler-than-usual Spring we’ve had. I started my seedlings a couple of weeks earlier this year (mid-March instead of late-March), and the room where I have my sprouting setup is an unheated though fully-covered porch, so evening temperatures certainly have been dipping down into the 40s.
I had excellent germination of my mostly tomato and pepper seeds, but it’s been almost 6 weeks and the tomato seedlings seem “leggy,” and still haven’t grown their first true set of leaves:
![d8DVxrFjmSHYbCT0WC77S6VaNRVBo7rWgOgXIXjPZ3o](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos-3.dropbox.com%2Ft%2F2%2FAADEo2q8c1T-2olmOv2pXetliT5W65JCisr4dNYhIXvv4g%2F12%2F25598978%2Fjpeg%2F32x32%2F1%2F_%2F1%2F2%2FFile%2520Apr%252026%252C%252010%252019%252021%2520AM.jpeg%2FEIWLoxMYiCwgBygH%2Fd8DVxrFjmSHYbCT0WC77S6VaNRVBo7rWgOgXIXjPZ3o%3Fsize%3D1600x1200%26size_mode%3D3&hash=a34b4096a9d0a60410ed24b56985edfa)
As for the pepper seedlings, I had excellent germination rates with them, too, but now they all seem to be drooping and dying, and none of them have gotten their first true set of leaves either:
![viNt5Zo57mj1Cv26nzX50uTa9KxzDp6ONtkI4dEhvZw](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos-2.dropbox.com%2Ft%2F2%2FAACIY18Aun4qCWwkqQH2J81pdYfFIH0OvrzmywskEovGDg%2F12%2F25598978%2Fjpeg%2F32x32%2F1%2F_%2F1%2F2%2FFile%2520Apr%252026%252C%252010%252020%252003%2520AM.jpeg%2FEIWLoxMYiCwgBygH%2FviNt5Zo57mj1Cv26nzX50uTa9KxzDp6ONtkI4dEhvZw%3Fsize%3D1600x1200%26size_mode%3D3&hash=b0f4ee77b01ba8e5eef01566bb25e0de)
I turned off the heating mat after everything germinated, although I’ve now wondered if I should have left it on longer, possibly overnight. The lights are hanging a few inches above the seedlings and are on for 16 hours a day. I’ve tried to be mindful of watering them correctly (not too much, not too little), and the seedlings are in a nice coconut husk sprouting medium.
Any thoughts/advice?
Thanks in advance…