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Very stunted growth

Hi, fellow chilli growers!
 
Long story short... I germinated and potted up various chilli seeds around new years, indoors. I had to leave the country for a bit so I watered them well, placed them on a north facing window sill where they would be safe, kept my fingers crossed, and let them be.
 
Amazingly, most have survived, but have not grown much at all. They are pretty much just as I left them, they still have their seed leaves, and true leaves that are at best 2mm long.
 
So, they have been like that for about 3 and a half months. Does the time that passed in any way come into play regarding their age, or would time had as good as stopped for them?
 
Thanks, can't wait to put them outside!
 
Large doses of water + poor draining soil can also stunt them from root rot, or there could be something else about the soil that's problematic, lack of nutrients, contamination, pH level, etc but I have to agree with Willard that regardless of anything else they probably need more sun, and it tends to be colder right next to windows in winter.
 
Have not put seedlings in a window.  When grow room is out of room, I move plants about 6" tall to bedroom windows.  Without additional light, they just sort of stop growing or slow down I can barely notice.  So I am going with not enough light.  Move from North side of house to South might help, but some simple lighting will likely make a major change.
 
I've been doing mine since January as well. Comparing mine to some of the pro growers my guys are much smaller. I had inadequate artificial light for much of the duration. After significantly upgrading the lighting I've had very noticeable improvements. Hopefully I didn't fall too far behind, I still have 5-6 weeks 'til they go outside. Next year I'll learn from my mistake.
 
Thanks, everyone who have chimed in. Yes, a lack of light and warmth would have been the main culprits for stunted growth, but given the circumstances I am glad they have survived at all. The sun is getting stronger by the day so they get moved to a south facing (communal) window during the day, hopefully to catch up a bit.
 
Where I live, night temperatures don't stay above 10 deg C or into the 50s F until May (and even in June or July the temperatures are a bit iffy), so there is another month of chilli tetris to do before I can leave them outside. Roll on summer!!!
 
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