Hi Everyone!
This is my second year gardening, and I'm attempting to grow from seed.
I got some tiny greenhouse/grow light thingies to start the seeds in.
They have sprouted and are leggy as hell. Idk what I did wrong. Can I stuff some of the "leg" back on the soil??? I have very limited space to grow seeds indoors and very limited light (why I got these mini greenhouse/grow light things)
How can I save them?? Do I need to start over?!
by PinkSxrbet_tings
7 Comments
Yeah start over. Needs WAY more light.
Remove the dome as soon as they sprout as well and move the light much closer.
This is one of the leggiest ones I’ve ever seen!
I’m in my first year of sowing indoors and from what I’ve learned, your lights are either the wrong “color”/wavelength for seedlings or too weak.
Seedlings require light in the 400 nanometer to 525nm wavelength known as “blue light” or like 5,000 kelvin or higher. [https://goodearthlighting.com/blog/post/grow-lights-101](https://goodearthlighting.com/blog/post/grow-lights-101)
The fact that your lights are coming out purple means there’s a significant amount of red light which isn’t used by plants until they are older and flowering.
Take this response with a grain of salt because I’m still learning.
Unfortunately those built-in LED lights are good only for sprouting seeds. Once you see green…you need real grow lights.
You will definitely need to completely start over. These won’t make it.
Unfortunately, these plants are goners. Here’s some reasons why.
Seeds have two “leaves” inside of them already along with a few days of nutrients. when they sprout, those two pre-built “seed leaves” push through the soil in search of light. The seed itself has a sort of yolk that provides a little bit of nutrients, but not nearly enough to grow the first set of *true leaves.*
In order to grow those, the seed leaves need a LOT of light. That grow light you have on them is visibly dim, maybe about 6watts. “Watt equivalent” is a meaningless measurement, so don’t buy any grow lights that won’t tell you the *actual* wattage it pulls from the wall. 60watt will start basically any seed, even if it’s a regular light instead of a grow light (you’ll need to look for “shop lights,” if there’s harbor freights in your country they sell a 60watt shop light for like $20), but 6watt won’t grow shit. They’re scam lights, really.
You also want these far more powerful lights mere inches away from the top of the plant, about two or three, adjusted every morning. Again, seed leaves are not super efficient and need a lot of light.
If they don’t get enough light, the seed leaves just get taller and taller thinking they’re still buried until they exhaust the seed nutrient and fall over. Once they fall over, this is fatal and cannot be remedied. It is referred to as *getting leggy.*
If they do get enough light, the plant will fairly quickly start sprouting its first set of *true leaves,* which are way bigger and way more efficient, but unless you’re using a really powerful light (I’m using a 100watt GROW light, which would be like maybe a 130watt shop), you will still want to keep the light basically right up on it until transfer.
The sun’s a lot brighter than you think it is!
Yes, those are so leggy they likely won’t survive and you should probably start over. Looks like the light that came with your seed dome is so poor that they would even do better by a sunny window. Seedlings need so much more light than people think. I don’t know what your budget is but even something like using a couple of these bulbs in cheap housings would be better than what you have:
[https://www.amazon.com/Briignite-Spectrum-Equivalent-Indoor-Starting/dp/B0FPC4DR6C](https://www.amazon.com/Briignite-Spectrum-Equivalent-Indoor-Starting/dp/B0FPC4DR6C)
[https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Detachable-Aluminum-Reflector-Included/dp/B07H8G6PKX](https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Detachable-Aluminum-Reflector-Included/dp/B07H8G6PKX)
You need way stronger lights
You need to buy a new light.