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Too Leggy?

ianv1983

ianv1983

I'm growing a mix of hot peppers and bell peppers that are approximately 3 weeks old. The peppers are kept under my 2' fluorescent grow light. I place my tray on a box to help lift them up to get optimum light. I live in NC, and the weather has been preety warm lately. If the weather keeps up, I'd like to place most of them outside since they'll out grow my small light fixture. I was wondering if they look a little leggy? If so, should I burry them deeper. I appreciate any help or suggestions.

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Everything I grew last year looked like that. I buried 'em up to their necks and turned a fan on them, and everything worked out okay.
 
Thanks for the quick replies! I'll definitely burry them deeper. I can only burry them so deep in that tray, so should I wait till they get few more leaves on them and bury them deeper when I repot them?
 
Mine looked about like that when I repotted them, so I'd say you're alright if you can find deep enough pots to give their roots room under those stems.
 
They are a little leggy... you might try putting a fan on them... perhaps put it on high at a distance, and move the fan closer until you see them moving around but not bent over to the ground... you want them to develop thicker stems, without breaking them off. As they get stronger, move the fan closer and closer. A number of people here keep their lights and fan on the same timer...

Some varieties are leggy by nature (baccatums).
 
They're not getting enough light...Your lamp is probably not a good color temp for them either. Use "daylight" bulbs in the 5000k-6500k range. Bury them all the way to the cotyledons and put them back under the lights about 3" from the bulbs. Or you can add a few CFL's. They make a huge difference.
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This is my setup...I already had the 4' power strip, so all that cost me were a couple 4 packs of 100W equivalent CFL's at $10 a pop plus the socket adapters which were a couple bucks each. The T8 shoplights were what I started with. They were $10 each plus $10 for each set of bulbs. The CFL setup was actually a little cheaper and put out TONs more light! Yes the T8's are on in this pic...that should give you an idea how bright those CFL's are. Over yours you could use just a regular small power strip and 4 CFL's and your plants would thank you for it. As for the fan that is a must...I swap ends with my fan daily and rotate the trays every few days as well to share the breeze.

Here ore some of these plants after the addition of the CFL's
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Best move I made this season!

Your issue is absolutely positively a light issue...
Good luck!
Shane
 
Thanks again for the replies. I had no idea that adding a fan would have that much impact on the plants. I'll be replacing the bulbs and adding a fan soon.
 
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