I started these a month or two ago, and they havent grow much since. What’s going on?
They're under a growlight and fan for like 12 hours every day. Unsure about nutrients, some kind of organic fertilizer mixed with raised bed soil and a decent amount of perlite.
by PanFriedCookies
20 Comments
KissesFishes
I’d increase grow light time,
But visible growth slows a bit around now as roots are developing
floatingskip
What variety? Habs, ghosts and other fairly hot peppers take a while to get goin.
Certain-Mobile-9872
That dirt looks horrible to me. You need to run your lights longer 12 hours isn’t enough.
gamechangersp
Feed them fish fertilizer and water mix
emac1211
A month or two is a very wide range tbh.
diluxxen
The soil looks drenched, wrong soil and12h light might be a tad too little.
Switch the soil to something better and dont fertilize something that small. With normal soil the nutrients in that will be enough until a transplant.
Go with 14h light.
Dont drench them.
ReplacementRough1523
What is the reccomend light for these? my tomatos are doing ok. my peppers are slow AF like this guys.
I’m growing under 300W Led running at 30%.
I’ve grown and had amazing luck running 600watts. I thought running at around 90W would be good enough and be efficient. am i wrong?
edit- my plants aren’t leggy
thenordicfrost
Is it a month, or two? Lol that makes a difference. Also, 12hrs isn’t enough. 16hrs on, 8hrs off. They’re not leggy, so the light distance is fine. Also, that’s a big pot (solo cup) for seedlings. They’ll focus more on root development rather than foliage right now. Which is good. The more roots, the more they can take on water and nutrients and grow bigger.
Steve-Shouts
Too wet, root rot is slowing it down.
Vile-X
What was your exact plant date? Also that soil looks too moist.
bmorebirdz
Mice them closer to the light
CosmicDrama6
Probably getting some roots set in.
Samuraidrochronic
Grow light 24/7 and give them some fertilizer. Like half a tespoon mixed into a big glass of water, and then about a teaspoon of the mix for each lil guy. Better to underfertilize, check the growth/green by 48 hours, and amp it up if needed. Overfertilizing will always be worse
benjoe1990
They look healthy to me, just slow to grow.
What varieties are you growing? Annuum species are the quickest to grow and I have found that the chinensis and pubescens to be the slowest to put on size
Do the cups have drainage holes? If not you can cut a sliver of the bottom edge with scissors. Peppers will get root rot from sitting in water
What kind of lights and how long do you have them on? Are they on a timer? I grow my peppers on a 18 hours on, 6 hours off cycle. I have an automatic timer so it isnt a guessing game of when to turn on and off
What is your fertilizer regime? I just go with miracle grow and use the indoor dilution of ½ teaspoon per gallon of water, I do this every time I water and have good results
Just remember that the hardest part of gardening is patience
cfd212
I use solo cups also… did you put holes in the bottom, they look really wet. Also if it’s your lights go to home depot and by their really cheap led grow lights. If they need nutrients miracle grow makes a very week pump spray fertilizer I use while there under light.
Main-Astronaut5219
The soil is raised bed soil aka pure wood. Nutrients are going to be used to break down the organic matter, I’d definitely give it a sip of some quarter or half strength fertilizer and see if that helps. In the future instead of raised bed soil try some cheap compost, it’s likely even cheaper than raised bed soil. Mix it with some peat/coco coir and perlite and your set. You could even just use straight sifted compost with perlite. Usually somewhere around 10-15% perlite helps with peppers especially since they don’t like being soggy. Most compost will be about the same quality nowadays other than something a farmer or organic gardeners been cooking up. Black Kow used to be great, but it’s worse than the cheap evergreen stuff out here lately. Good luck with your grow season 👍
Andrew_Higginbottom
Slow growth but healthy looking is usually down to cold temperatures.
Maccade25
Light. Last three years I’ve had these 2’ light strips. About 8 of them. My seedlings were always leggy and small. This year I got 2 of an 8”x 4’ grow light just Amazon specials. My plants are massive.
DanielleStHilaire
Not sure where you are, maybe you aren’t giving it enough sun- maybe a different soil medium. Pro mix is great.
elsoldelight
Maybe cold shocked? I’ve let seedlings get too cold and they stayed stunted like this for a loooong time.
20 Comments
I’d increase grow light time,
But visible growth slows a bit around now as roots are developing
What variety? Habs, ghosts and other fairly hot peppers take a while to get goin.
That dirt looks horrible to me. You need to run your lights longer 12 hours isn’t enough.
Feed them fish fertilizer and water mix
A month or two is a very wide range tbh.
The soil looks drenched, wrong soil and12h light might be a tad too little.
Switch the soil to something better and dont fertilize something that small. With normal soil the nutrients in that will be enough until a transplant.
Go with 14h light.
Dont drench them.
What is the reccomend light for these? my tomatos are doing ok. my peppers are slow AF like this guys.
I’m growing under 300W Led running at 30%.
I’ve grown and had amazing luck running 600watts. I thought running at around 90W would be good enough and be efficient. am i wrong?
edit- my plants aren’t leggy
Is it a month, or two? Lol that makes a difference. Also, 12hrs isn’t enough. 16hrs on, 8hrs off. They’re not leggy, so the light distance is fine. Also, that’s a big pot (solo cup) for seedlings. They’ll focus more on root development rather than foliage right now. Which is good. The more roots, the more they can take on water and nutrients and grow bigger.
Too wet, root rot is slowing it down.
What was your exact plant date? Also that soil looks too moist.
Mice them closer to the light
Probably getting some roots set in.
Grow light 24/7 and give them some fertilizer. Like half a tespoon mixed into a big glass of water, and then about a teaspoon of the mix for each lil guy. Better to underfertilize, check the growth/green by 48 hours, and amp it up if needed. Overfertilizing will always be worse
They look healthy to me, just slow to grow.
What varieties are you growing?
Annuum species are the quickest to grow and I have found that the chinensis and pubescens to be the slowest to put on size
Do the cups have drainage holes?
If not you can cut a sliver of the bottom edge with scissors. Peppers will get root rot from sitting in water
What kind of lights and how long do you have them on? Are they on a timer?
I grow my peppers on a 18 hours on, 6 hours off cycle. I have an automatic timer so it isnt a guessing game of when to turn on and off
What is your fertilizer regime?
I just go with miracle grow and use the indoor dilution of ½ teaspoon per gallon of water, I do this every time I water and have good results
Just remember that the hardest part of gardening is patience
I use solo cups also… did you put holes in the bottom, they look really wet. Also if it’s your lights go to home depot and by their really cheap led grow lights. If they need nutrients miracle grow makes a very week pump spray fertilizer I use while there under light.
The soil is raised bed soil aka pure wood. Nutrients are going to be used to break down the organic matter, I’d definitely give it a sip of some quarter or half strength fertilizer and see if that helps. In the future instead of raised bed soil try some cheap compost, it’s likely even cheaper than raised bed soil. Mix it with some peat/coco coir and perlite and your set. You could even just use straight sifted compost with perlite. Usually somewhere around 10-15% perlite helps with peppers especially since they don’t like being soggy. Most compost will be about the same quality nowadays other than something a farmer or organic gardeners been cooking up. Black Kow used to be great, but it’s worse than the cheap evergreen stuff out here lately. Good luck with your grow season 👍
Slow growth but healthy looking is usually down to cold temperatures.
Light. Last three years I’ve had these 2’ light strips. About 8 of them. My seedlings were always leggy and small. This year I got 2 of an 8”x 4’ grow light just Amazon specials. My plants are massive.
Not sure where you are, maybe you aren’t giving it enough sun- maybe a different soil medium. Pro mix is great.
Maybe cold shocked? I’ve let seedlings get too cold and they stayed stunted like this for a loooong time.