seeds Leggy seedlings keep getting longer

A

ariel26

I have these seedlings next to a south window on a heat mat. They just sprouted yesterday and when I first measured them they were 1 inch tall, today I measured them again and now they're 1.5 inches and just keep growing taller. Is this normal? Could they not be getting enough sunlight?
 
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Definitely looks like they need more light. I've germinated all my seeds on a heat mat and the get light through the window but it's really not enough so on sunny days they go outside for the day.

You can put them outside in the sun during the day and back on the heat mat at night OR get a light to put over them if weather is not suitable to put them out.
 
Well I did try putting them under a 23watt compact flourescent light for about an hour until I noticed that the tip of the leaves were turning yellow/brown (you can see it in the picture) and the soil temperature rised above 90°F. The bulb was 4-5 inches above the plants. Do I need to put the light farther away from the plants?
 
ariel26 said:
Well I did try putting them under a 23watt compact flourescent light for about an hour until I noticed that the tip of the leaves were turning yellow/brown (you can see it in the picture) and the soil temperature rised above 90°F. The bulb was 4-5 inches above the plants. Do I need to put the light farther away from the plants?
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Way too close!!
A foot away is good. Also a fan for air circulation but make it indirect for obvious reasons.
 
Hawaiianero said:
Way too close!!
A foot away is good. Also a fan for air circulation but make it indirect for obvious reasons.
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Does the fan need to be on 24/7? Also, wouldn't the fan reduce the soil temperature?
 
ariel26 said:
Well I did try putting them under a 23watt compact flourescent light for about an hour until I noticed that the tip of the leaves were turning yellow/brown (you can see it in the picture) and the soil temperature rised above 90°F. The bulb was 4-5 inches above the plants. Do I need to put the light farther away from the plants?
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Well that's why. Flourescents shouldn't be closer than 18"
 
Fan only needs to be on during the day. My plants are always sealed up in an aquarium at night and no problems. A little air flow shouldn't change the soil temp to much, even if you placed the fan somewhere in the room that gives an indirect breeze over your seedlings.

+1 on lights being a foot away
 
cruzzfish said:
Well that's why. Flourescents shouldn't be closer than 18"
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When you say that, do you mean on all plants, or just seedlings?  I thought flourescents should be as close as they can without overheating the plant?

I keep my CFL's 1/2" or so away from my fully grown pepper plants, all around it, but this winter I'll be starting indoors from seeds using CFL's and flourescent tubes, but will run a fan to keep temps down
 
Towlieee said:
When you say that, do you mean on all plants, or just seedlings?  I thought flourescents should be as close as they can without overheating the plant?

I keep my CFL's 1/2" or so away from my fully grown pepper plants, all around it, but this winter I'll be starting indoors from seeds using CFL's and flourescent tubes, but will run a fan to keep temps down
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Wow 1/2" seems a bit close even for mature plants.
When I used to grow herbal varieties I would keep my mother in a box full of cfl's with a fan for circulation but even then, anything closer than 2 inches would burn the leaves.
Maybe since pepper leaves are a bit thicker and hardier they aren't so sensitive to the direct heat.
 
Towlieee said:
When you say that, do you mean on all plants, or just seedlings?  I thought flourescents should be as close as they can without overheating the plant?

I keep my CFL's 1/2" or so away from my fully grown pepper plants, all around it, but this winter I'll be starting indoors from seeds using CFL's and flourescent tubes, but will run a fan to keep temps down
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All plants. Closer than that just risks burning if it's a grow light.
 
Hawaiianero said:
Wow 1/2" seems a bit close even for mature plants.
When I used to grow herbal varieties I would keep my mother in a box full of cfl's with a fan for circulation but even then, anything closer than 2 inches would burn the leaves.
Maybe since pepper leaves are a bit thicker and hardier they aren't so sensitive to the direct heat.
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cruzzfish said:
All plants. Closer than that just risks burning if it's a grow light.
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I watch my plants closely, I actually only have a TINY grow this year, I just bought lights for supplemental lighting as in the summer I only got 3-3.5 hours of direct sunlight, so I run my lights 12 hours or so a day.  Now with winter coming, I think I barely get 2 hours of direct light :( 
Next year I plan on start indoors way early, and growing much more, I want to have some decent sized plants to put out after last frost!  I plan on getting more lights.  The lights I run right now are only 23 watts 5000k cfl's, was only like $9 for 4 of them lol....  Years ago I had a 105 watt CFL in my garage for a shop light, it looked like the sun!  I'm not sure what temperature it was, but it was bright white, so I assume around 5000-6000k.  I'd like to buy 1 or 2 of those for my next grow since It'll be completely indoors for 2-3 months :)

I just went out and took these pics, this is how I have kept my lights since I got them around 3 months ago!  Before my Jalapeno was producing fruits, it was growing so fast I'd have to adjust the lights at least once, sometimes twice daily lol.

On a plus note since I went out to take pics, noticed one of my top lights was touching a leaf, so I raised it like a 1/2", and next year I have a friends yard to grow in that gets direct sun most the day!  So no more 3rd floor Balcony grow!  going to have plenty of space, to grow a variety of EVERYTHING lol.  Still will start indoors though to have as big of plants as possible :)

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OK you win :party:
Seriously, I would never have thought this would be a good idea. Curious though, what is ambient temp where your plants are? I used to have to pump 75F air from under my house because inside the house would get to upper 80's to mid 90's during the day when nobody home.
Hard to keep most plants happy with those temps.
 
Hawaiianero said:
OK you win :party:
Seriously, I would never have thought this would be a good idea. Curious though, what is ambient temp where your plants are? I used to have to pump 75F air from under my house because inside the house would get to upper 80's to mid 90's during the day when nobody home.
Hard to keep most plants happy with those temps.
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Well I started late this season (first year growing) on a 3rd floor balcony, I was having 90-100f temps most of July which made flowers drop, but still ran my lights on my plants anytime I didn't get direct light

Lately I've been having anywhere from low-high 70's for daytime temps, and unfortunately low-mid 50's for nighttime temps

I am super new to growing though!  I'm just trying to learn more about seedlings etc for next season, I plan on starting in a closet under lights, trying to grow some 1-1.5 foot plants by last frost, so I have a good start on the season :)

edit:  I will be buying a temperature gauge and a tiny fan or two to circulate air when I start my seedlings, really looking forward to next season!  
 
I have another question.. after my seedslings sprout do I need to leave the humidity dome on? or should I take it off? This is my grow area right now:
 
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Some plants are leggier than others.... When I sprouted mine I kept the light about 2" away from my sprouts at all times, never got burnt tips....
 
AJ Drew said:
THP people always have the best advice.  I want to add the fan should be oscillating. 
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Indeed, thanks so much for the help guys! So far my seedlings are doing great and growing their first true leaves!
 
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