Multiple grow lights 8” from the soil and my seedlings are STILL leggy. What is the secret?
Multiple grow lights 8” from the soil and my seedlings are STILL leggy. What is the secret?
by throwmethewaytogo
26 Comments
Papesisme
Closer and more power. There’s no secret. Luckily (as you probably know already) tomatoes can easily recover from a bit of etoliation.
Any_Flamingo8978
Those actually look pretty good to me.
jp7755qod
Grow lights could be lower ( as long as they’re not burning the plants ), but these don’t really look that bad to me. This is how I want mine to look right before I take them out of the starter trays, and pot them up into individual cups.
NohPhD
They look much better than leggy to me. Leggy usually has a stalk as thin as a cheap toothpick. These look pretty decent.
Deep_Illustrator5397
Looks fine, tomatoes will easily adapt to pretty much any condition and take to transplanting really well. Yes the first pair of true leaves could have been lower to the ground but you’ll likely remove them regardless. A fan can help with thickening the stems.
Emergency-Plum-1981
Those look fine. Put a fan on them if you haven’t already, if you want the stems to be stronger
Pomegranate_1328
They look good. Also add a fan to strengthen stems. Also helps them get less leggy, get ready for wind outside, prevent wet moldy soil etc
It’s not just how close but how strong the light is. I have one that is so strong I don’t put it too close .
hawkeyejw
Those seedlings look totally fine.
Hecate100
You might try playing music in that room.
retiredin2010
Do you have a fan blowing on them? I find it really helps the stalks.
PlantManMD
DLI (daily light interval) depends on light strength and duration. How many hours a day are your lights on. My tomatoes under high-intensity 8-bulb LED or T5-HO fixtures get 20 hrs/day of light and are on thermostatically-controlled heat mats. Minimal light-dark root zone temp diff is best. What’s your fertilizer regimen? Excessive watering can also cause elongation. It’s all a fine balancing act.
Those don’t look bad because you’ll plant them deeper when you pot them up.
FriendIndependent240
Your tomatoes are fine
white94rx
There’s nothing wrong with those. I wouldn’t consider them leggy at all.
Background_Being8287
Type of light’s, source . Thanks
Enough-Inevitable-61
They are not leggy at all.
tobiasmaximus
Wind. Toughen the stem up.
Cali_Yogurtfriend624
Ready to be hardened-off a bit, yes?
TioSancho23
Is there a fan blowing gently on them? They will grow stouter if they have a reason to.
Tiny-Albatross518
Those are fine. Time to move up to a small pot or solo cup. Remember to remove lower leaves and bury them up to their necks.
Young plants don’t look truly great until they’re getting some real sunlight.
Hares_ear1947
I put my lights 2-3 inches above the soil and move them up as my seedlings grow.
billdogg7246
They look ok to me. In the future, keep your lights as close as possible without burning the seedlings.
I know math hurts, but use the Inverse Square Law – if you double the distance, the intensity is 1/4 what it was, so cut if you cut the distance in half, the intensity is 4x!
slackerbucks
No way, you’re good with those. ETA: if you have a fan blowing on them that will toughen them up, but they look great.
jondoe09
PPFD stands for photosynthetic photon flux density. This is a way to measure the light energy and tomatoe plants need close to 200 as seedlings.
Perhaps the website where you got your grow lights lists what to expect at certain distances from the light?
Your tomatoes don’t look bad at all, pretty good actually.
Zone4George
As others have already posted, they look pretty good to me too!
If I can ask you a different question though, about your cell trays. They look exactly like the McKenzie (2)x36 “Pro Hex” trays that I have also been using. How easy / challenging have you found them to transplant your seedlings out into larger pots? In my case I’m not super happy with them, squeezing them out or whatnot is not as “smooth” or easy as I had hoped.
karstopography
Light is one factor, but so are temperatures. What’s the temperature in the growing area?
NPKzone8a
Agree with the other commenters. These don’t look “leggy” to me. They look healthy and strong.
26 Comments
Closer and more power. There’s no secret. Luckily (as you probably know already) tomatoes can easily recover from a bit of etoliation.
Those actually look pretty good to me.
Grow lights could be lower ( as long as they’re not burning the plants ), but these don’t really look that bad to me. This is how I want mine to look right before I take them out of the starter trays, and pot them up into individual cups.
They look much better than leggy to me. Leggy usually has a stalk as thin as a cheap toothpick. These look pretty decent.
Looks fine, tomatoes will easily adapt to pretty much any condition and take to transplanting really well. Yes the first pair of true leaves could have been lower to the ground but you’ll likely remove them regardless. A fan can help with thickening the stems.
Those look fine. Put a fan on them if you haven’t already, if you want the stems to be stronger
They look good. Also add a fan to strengthen stems. Also helps them get less leggy, get ready for wind outside, prevent wet moldy soil etc
It’s not just how close but how strong the light is. I have one that is so strong I don’t put it too close .
Those seedlings look totally fine.
You might try playing music in that room.
Do you have a fan blowing on them? I find it really helps the stalks.
DLI (daily light interval) depends on light strength and duration. How many hours a day are your lights on. My tomatoes under high-intensity 8-bulb LED or T5-HO fixtures get 20 hrs/day of light and are on thermostatically-controlled heat mats. Minimal light-dark root zone temp diff is best. What’s your fertilizer regimen? Excessive watering can also cause elongation. It’s all a fine balancing act.
Those don’t look bad because you’ll plant them deeper when you pot them up.
Your tomatoes are fine
There’s nothing wrong with those. I wouldn’t consider them leggy at all.
Type of light’s, source . Thanks
They are not leggy at all.
Wind. Toughen the stem up.
Ready to be hardened-off a bit, yes?
Is there a fan blowing gently on them?
They will grow stouter if they have a reason to.
Those are fine. Time to move up to a small pot or solo cup. Remember to remove lower leaves and bury them up to their necks.
Young plants don’t look truly great until they’re getting some real sunlight.
I put my lights 2-3 inches above the soil and move them up as my seedlings grow.
They look ok to me. In the future, keep your lights as close as possible without burning the seedlings.
I know math hurts, but use the Inverse Square Law – if you double the distance, the intensity is 1/4 what it was, so cut if you cut the distance in half, the intensity is 4x!
No way, you’re good with those. ETA: if you have a fan blowing on them that will toughen them up, but they look great.
PPFD stands for photosynthetic photon flux density. This is a way to measure the light energy and tomatoe plants need close to 200 as seedlings.
Perhaps the website where you got your grow lights lists what to expect at certain distances from the light?
Your tomatoes don’t look bad at all, pretty good actually.
As others have already posted, they look pretty good to me too!
If I can ask you a different question though, about your cell trays. They look exactly like the McKenzie (2)x36 “Pro Hex” trays that I have also been using. How easy / challenging have you found them to transplant your seedlings out into larger pots? In my case I’m not super happy with them, squeezing them out or whatnot is not as “smooth” or easy as I had hoped.
Light is one factor, but so are temperatures. What’s the temperature in the growing area?
Agree with the other commenters. These don’t look “leggy” to me. They look healthy and strong.