For tip #5 I'm going to talk about light. Everyone knows that seedlings need light to grow, but how much light they need might surprise you. Seedlings need a lot of light! They're happiest when they can get 12 hours of light each day, and supplying that demand indoors can be tough--especially when you are a beginner without a grow light setup. You're relying on whatever amount of sunlight comes through your windows. And even the sunniest window is often only sunny for a few hours each day.
Searching for the Light:
When you place seedlings near a window, you'll notice that they start to stretch and lean toward the sunlight. Leaning isn't necessarily bad, if it's mild. All plants are naturally phototropic, which means that they are prone to leaning or moving toward sunlight. It makes sense, too. We all want to bask in the rays of sunshine. So our plants are going to do whatever they can to orient themselves in the sunlight.
If you keep houseplants, you may have already noticed this before. In our house, we turn our houseplants 90 degrees every month to give them the opportunity to grow equally on all sides. If you don't periodically turn your plants, you'll end up with this kind of situation:
So you might think, okay, well, my houseplants are happy being near this one window in my house. I'll just put my seedlings in that window, too. But let's consider the differences here, using the photo above:
We have a large plant with lots of leaves (more leaves = more photosynthesis). It's a notoriously tolerant plant (a rubber plant), which has large, thick leaves that hold a lot of water in them, making the plant less likely to die if you forget to water it. It's also an established plant, presumably with a hearty root system. What all of this means is that this plant can handle itself in sub-optimal conditions. It's like an adult human, who most of the time can go two weeks without eating and still survive.
Now let's look at a pepper seedling:
When plants are not provided with enough light, they become leggy. That is when a plant uses all of its energy reaching for sunlight instead of focusing on growing deeper roots, new leaves, or becoming hearty and stout. This leaves them leggy and weak, with scrawny stems that are unable to support the weight of their secondary leaves. Below is a photo of leggy cabbage seedlings that have not been provided with enough sunlight:
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| Leggy cabbage seedlings, straining toward the light. However, when seedlings have enough light they are able to prioritize becoming healthy and stout before they attempt to grow taller. Or rather, while they grow taller. The ratio of growth for each part of the plant will be more in balance. Below is a photo of cabbage seedlings that germinated in an environment with adequate light.
That's a big difference, isn't it?!? You can see quickly that one tray of seedlings looks stout and hearty, while the other is lanky and thin. It isn't difficult to imagine why one would be more sturdy than the other. But what should I do if my seedlings get leggy? If you have a lot of money to throw at your gardening endeavor, you might buy racks and lights on day 1, but that isn't the case for most of us. Most people start by dipping a toe into the gardening pool to see if it's something that they enjoy. So it's a budget planting situation. At least that's how it was for me! Consequently, most gardeners will find themselves with leggy seedlings at some point. Then it's like, "Whoops! Now what should I do?" Can leggy seedlings be saved? Do I need to start over? The answer is: Yes, but it's really your call. If you decide to keep your leggy seedlings (which I have done in the past), you need to know that they are going to be weaker all year long. I'm not saying that they won't produce! Only that they will be fussier, more prone to breakage, and will probably flop over at some point in the growth process. They'll also take longer to get to the point of being able to tolerate adverse conditions, due to their less developed root systems. They will eventually catch up, but you'll need to baby them longer than you would a healthy plant. When transplanting leggy seedlings, I always plant them a little deeper than I would a healthy plant, which strictly speaking is a no-no. You normally want to plant things only as deeply as they are already planted. However, I have broken that rule a lot in order to give my leggy seedlings a little more anchorage in the soil. Since I got grow lights, the turnaround is much faster for me if I need to start over. Having more optimal circumstances in my current setup, I can throw away an unhealthy seedling and have another batch poking through the surface in a few days. So I am much more likely to throw away leggy seedlings now. |
My Indoor Lights:
Speaking of my grow lights, I'm often asked about which lights I purchased and what my indoor setup looks like. I'll post a photo and link to the lights here, but keep in mind that there are as many indoor setup configurations as there are kinds of plants. I recommend looking around on the internet and finding something that is right for your home, your gardening, and your budget.
We purchased both sizes of Trinity racks from Costco, and got all of our lights from Amazon. I'll link those below:
Active Grow Integrated Dual T8, 4 ft.
Active Grow Integrated Dual T8, 2 ft.
Depending on which lights you get, you'll want to place them 4 - 12 inches from the top of your seedlings. The higher the power, the farther you want them from your seedlings. Our Spider Farmer light is a superhero and can fry seedlings if placed too close. The Active Grow lights are not as powerful and have never burned one of my plants, even when placed a few inches above them. Whatever light you buy will likely come with recommendations.
What if I don't want to buy an indoor seedling setup?
If you don't have the space, money, or desire for an indoor setup, that's totally fine. In that case, I'd recommend you do one of two things:
1. Wait until a few weeks before your last frost date to start any seeds. The days are so much longer at that point, making it more likely that you'll be able to give your seedlings what they need in terms of sunlight. Plus the heat of the day is usually warm enough to set your seedlings outside, where they can get a good amount of their daily requirements of sunlight.
2. Wait until after your last frost date and direct sow seeds into your garden. Just because you can't extend your growing season doesn't mean you should give up on your gardening dream altogether! I have gardening friends who have said something like, "I don't want the hassle of dealing with fussy seedlings, so I plop seeds in the soil and see what grows." I think that's a fine gardening philosophy!
Can my seedlings get too much light?
There's always the possibility of going the other direction and giving your seedlings too much light. I think that would be very hard to do without lights, though. If your seedlings are getting too much light or are too close to the light source, it will be obvious because the leaves will begin to burn. Here's a picture of a seedling that has been placed too close to a grow light:
If you notice that your seedlings' leaves are looking burnt, simply move them a few more inches away from the light source and they will likely recover.
Recap:
I'm not sure I've given very much in the way of helpful information in this post, but here's a recap:
Seedlings need a lot of light or they'll become leggy. If you'd like to extend your growing season, you can buy grow lights and start seeds indoors. If not, you can wait until the outdoor weather is warm enough to plant seeds directly in your garden. Your plants will tell you if they're getting too little or too much light, and you can adjust the amount accordingly by moving the plant closer or farther from the light source.
In my next post I'll talk about fertilizer for seedlings and mature plants. I'll even talk about how to make your own!
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