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Seedling streetch

Smoggy

Member
Always did fine under 40 watt fluoros, don't want to use those , when there's plenty room under the 400 [w/ 660 nm Red spot beam LED]
Been wiggling under fan since emergence, but look silly with ~3 in. tender sohot length
Oh well they're already spreading their little wings, I'll let them figure it out.
 

Switcher56

Comfortably numb!
I veg under 300W LED and 3" sprouts are the norm here. My 1st ever run was under fluos. They were taller and weak e.g they needed support. Now there are squat and strong :)
 

Smoggy

Member
.. The thing is they're too spindly to handle & haven't even fully grabbed onto the soil in their cells yet.
Curious to test wether HPS light mimicking the spring spectrum, would be worked better.
 

dlxtpnuo

Active member
New round of Old seeds germinating, under 400 watt my - growing etiolated. What to do.

Everyone gets leggy seedlings. IMO, the majority of us. Leggy seedlings get to about 8 to 10 cm and then start to harden off, which means stalks become harder and support the plants own weight. They can get a bit longer, and you just need to be gentle with them, here's how.

Fix them by carefully tieing a TWIST WIRE to a small stake. Then gently hook the lassoo around the seedling. Note the lassoo. Lean the seedling against the stake or part of the lassoo. Then gently adjust this as needed. Think more of leaning the seedling against something, than tieing the seedling to it.

leggy wire & stake  1.jpg


This guy used pipe-cleaners. I think it's better to tie the wire to the stake first. Stake works better because it's taller. Pipe cleaner material will go soft and move about. This was the nearest pic I could get, apart from the one above.

leggy wire & stake  1.jpg


Theres lots of info about on how to avoid leggy seedlings. Some opinions say use less water, light or heat. IMO, indoor lights have this effect. But once you have a method to deal with this, I don't think it's a problem at all.

leggy huge-stretch-seedling-sm.jpg
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
If working in cups, I would just use the bottom 50mm. Then fill them up as it grows. Any elongation above the fill level offers me nothing. So I plan ahead to bury it.
 

dlxtpnuo

Active member

dlxtpnuo

Active member
Here we have some of their specialist lighting. Don't know the make or model do you?

The_Skunkist Some of the new seeds are popping . (Post #174)

Something special is coming with next auto session :

DSCN0273.JPG
 

buzzmobile

Well-known member
Veteran
.. The thing is they're too spindly to handle & haven't even fully grabbed onto the soil in their cells yet.
Curious to test wether HPS light mimicking the spring spectrum, would be worked better.

I used to start my seeds in 4" square black plastic pots. The seedlings definitely stretched so I reduced the amount of the soil in the 4" pot to plant the next round of seeds. When they stretched I did as f-e suggested above and added soil around the stem. I ordered some 2" square plastic pots on a hunch. The 2" pots allowed much less stretch after the initial sprouting and the root system of the seedling developed quicker than a seedling planted in 4" pots.

For now support them as needed and when established plant the stems deep in the larger pot.
 

Smoggy

Member
PXL_20210626_192650750.jpg
This worst one's been in different spot: in old yellowing dome with cool spectrum t5 on top w&o fan movement- it's ~5" spindly, tied on this Coco plug support, if it doesn't dry out to much, it'll get extra roots simultaneously.
~1" away from a 40 watt florescent tube is what I remember keeping them tightest.
 

moose eater

Well-known member
Typically,. the only times I get stretch in seedlings is either from excess N, too little light (not your issue), or deficient P.

We often start seedlings in either straight Pro-Mix with scant additives for porosity or ever so slight nutrients. Babies don't eat a porterhouse steak and spuds for breakfast.

You might try diluting your mix with Pro-Mix/Sunshine Mix #4 and pumice, perlite, or ????, if the other ideas haven't worked or been doable.

Just my .02 cents on the questions, assuming the other ideas haven't panned o8ut.
 

GMT

The Tri Guy
Veteran
Ah it could always just be a male. I have to disagree with the suggestion to support leggy seedlings. Best to let them "fall over". If they have to get up on their own it will help to strengthen the stem up. If you offer them a crutch, they tend to think they are ok and lean on one forever.
 

PolyChucker

Active member
The worst seedling stretch I’ve seen was from using the wrong bulb- I think CFL. Like 5” tall seedlings. I use a simple grow LED from a big box store with an old gooseneck lamp and keep it about 6-12” up. 24hr light seedlings with this simple full spectrum low power bulb seems to keep stretch at a minimum. The bulb costs $10 and I often see suitable lamps on the street. My veg area is a shop light with LED grow T8 style and my flower is blurple cheap 600w from Craigslist. It’s pretty budget but having 3 types of light, on 3 schedules, helps to guide the plant along. 24, 17, 12 hours, with exponentially increasing intensity
 
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