very thin stalks, not sure whats going on?

[magius231]

Hello all,
this will be my second year of growing peppers indoors (at work ) and this year I am running into a major problem - almost all of the peppers I have started have ridiculously thin stalks near the root area...they can't even hold themselves up. Its quite obvious that the stalk narrows a lot where it enters the soil, and is very weak. The only thing I did different this year was the plants weren't wuite as close to the flourescent light as they were last year, could that cause the problem? Right now they are all staked up using paper clips, but I am worried they will never get strong enough to hold themselves up like this...any thoughts?

thanks,
Gary

 

[Hotpeppa]

yes...

when they dont get enough light they will get leggy, and when they get leggy this will happen sometimes...

put the light closer or try to pinch them to create a more bushy plant..

 

[magius231]

ok thats what I figured...I have moved them all closer, I guess we will see what happens. Hopefully at some point they will be able to support themselves again.

thanks!

 

[LUCKYDOG]

are they planted to shallow ?

 

[Captain Murphy]

Keep an eye out for "damping off" as well.

 

[magius231]

I didn't think they were too shallow, but when I re-pot I'm going to bury thm pretty deep I think...

damping off is definitely a possibility and its something I need to address...guess I need to pick up some anti-fungal.

 

[bigt]

I've had to prop up plenty of seedlings before. Give them time, they will gain strength and be fine. Go very easy on any nutes.(dilute well)

 

[inolan22]

Here is what mines looked like to start out with (due to lack of light). I did have a couple that didn't recover but for the most part they were all fine. Just keep a close eye on them!

 

[TXCG]

One thing that helps strengthen stems is an oscillating fan. Not a lot of wind, just enough to barely rustle the plants around. This will thicken and strengthen the stems a lot.

Note: if they JUST sprouted and are still little bitty like in this last picture, hold off on the fan. Wait til they have their 1st true leaves or so. Until then just get the light as close as you can.

 

[magius231]

yeah I think that was my first mistake, I had a fan at them when they were seedlings and it was a bit on the stiff side...

 

[TXCG]

yeah I think that was my first mistake, I had a fan at them when they were seedlings and it was a bit on the stiff side...

Well, that wouldn't cause thin stems, just potentially dry out the media too fast. Fans wont hurt seedlings unless its just blowing so hard they break or dry out. I just usually avoid having a fan on them when they just sprout so I don't have to worry about the tiny bit of soil or rockwool they're sitting in drying out while I'm away.

 

[gotpeppers]

bury them up to there neck. Roots will shoot out of them that way. Why indoor its nice and sunny out this time of year. Can't beat real sunshine.

 

[magius231]

well I spend most of my time at work so I can actually care for them there. I have no place right now I could plant them outdoors so I think for a while these will remain indoor peppers...