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Slow Growing

Lights 24/7? Other people on here said the plants have to have some dark time. Is that not correct in your opinion?
Studies have shown that peppers benefit from a 24/7 light schedule for their first weeks of life. (5 to 6 weeks)
My seedlings get light 24/7 but never seem to stay under the lights more than 6 weeks before getting potted up and moved outdoors during the day and back indoors when temps drop below 50F.
 
Cooler temps will sort of stunt growth or at least slow it down, but for the good. The stems and leaves will be much stronger and the plants bushier, plus the nodes will be much tighter.

Once my plants get a 3-4 leaves, I bottom-water them only once a week. They are in nursery trays that are set in a tub and are soaked when I remove them. Plus, when I first joined this forum a lady named Pam gave me some great advice for fertilizer - Tomato-tone. It's not high in nitrogen but promotes great root growth. One tablespoon per gallon of water goes a long way, plus it's organic.

Mike
 
Someone posted a PDF file a day ago or so cant remember the link atm but am sure you find it if you look a bit. you should read it or parts of it.
Also let the dirt dry out a bit that way the plant will grow more roots.

I think thats the biggest reason for growing slow, you might give them a bit to much to drink. All the pictures they look very moist.

So, even if the surface is dry the bottom can still be moist or wet.

Also what kind of lights do you have?

I hope you understand me my English aren't the best ;))


Hope they will take of soon for you,now i gotta go and fight some bugs !

//Oscar
 
Someone posted a PDF file a day ago or so cant remember the link atm but am sure you find it if you look a bit. you should read it or parts of it.
Also let the dirt dry out a bit that way the plant will grow more roots.

I think thats the biggest reason for growing slow, you might give them a bit to much to drink. All the pictures they look very moist.

So, even if the surface is dry the bottom can still be moist or wet.

Also what kind of lights do you have?

I hope you understand me my English aren't the best ;))


Hope they will take of soon for you,now i gotta go and fight some bugs !

//Oscar

yes I actually downloaded that pdf..good book..long though..300 pages. It actually says plants require some dark. No more light than about 18 hours per day.
The plants were moist when I took pictures. Had just bottom watered/fertilized them for about 10 minutes.
My lights..i have 6 small grow lights, and 4 double T12 fixtures. Each has 1 daylight bulb 6500k so a total of 4 of those and each has 1 Plant and Aquarium bulb 2500k so a total of 4 of those.

I think my problem may have been leaving them on the heat mats after germination. I checked soil temp and it was a little high. I have taken seedlings off of heat mat since I posted this so we will see what happens.
 
I did not read this thread in detail, rather I scanned the posts...

IMO....the major thing is your root ball has not been established good enough...that comes from starting in soil/dirt...you didn't use a seed starting mix did you?...if you did, then quit reading this now...

here is a shot a tray of Scorpoions that were started on 24 January...

030111a001.jpg


I have found that starting seeds in dirt/potting mix does not enable the roots to grow as fast or your root ball to mature as quickly as they do when starting in a soil-less seed starting mix...the main thing here is the seed stareting mix is a very light weight mix and allows the roots to grow very easily...this is my observation over the past few years...
 
It's a good start. Make sure you get yourself a small fan and set it up so that it blows on the plants for about 20-30 minutes a day. It'll really thicken up the stalks and help prevent them from getting leggy.
 
I did not read this thread in detail, rather I scanned the posts...

IMO....the major thing is your root ball has not been established good enough...that comes from starting in soil/dirt...you didn't use a seed starting mix did you?...if you did, then quit reading this now...

here is a shot a tray of Scorpoions that were started on 24 January...

030111a001.jpg


I have found that starting seeds in dirt/potting mix does not enable the roots to grow as fast or your root ball to mature as quickly as they do when starting in a soil-less seed starting mix...the main thing here is the seed stareting mix is a very light weight mix and allows the roots to grow very easily...this is my observation over the past few years...


That was my problem. I transplanted mine too early to potting mix which SLOWED them down big time and killed a few. Since I have switched to seed mix, they have been growing like crazy. It's my first time so I'll know better next time.
 
Well mine are nowhere near some I have seen on here..but they are for sure increased from last week. Here are my one month olds..

OneMonth1.jpg



OneMonth2.jpg



OneMonth3.jpg



OneMonth4.jpg



OneMonth5.jpg



OneMonth6.jpg
 
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