So I read you aren't supposed to use a grow light until all the seedlings emerge. My question is the window in this room gets bright indirect light but the source is about 8 ft from the tray. The tallest seedlings are heavily leaning- almost growing side ways. Should I rotate the tray? Turn on the grow light for a limited amount of time until all seeds germinate?
And my last frost date is May 21-29 so I may be a tad bit early
Thanks!
by armadilloantics
3 Comments
Also- normally have the dome on top but removed for photo
I’ve found my tomatoes seem to sprout in less than a week with minimal effort.
https://preview.redd.it/q59uccjx7arg1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47158d9f420eb2bfed6dffbda1ebb5fded6988be
I use a heat mat, lights on timer 16/8, fans always ON. Having lights on before they emerge will not hurt a thing.
It’s not that you aren’t *supposed* to use the light until they emerge – it’s that you don’t *need* to, since (most) seeds don’t need light to sprout. (Tomatoes do not, there are some other seeds that do actually need light).
Since they don’t *need* light, you can leave it off until you see at least 1 sprout. But then you should immediately turn on the light, because, like you’ve experienced, it makes the seedlings leggy and they don’t know what direction to grow.
Now that you have the light on them they should do fine. Don’t worry too much, life finds a way 🙂
Edit: I missed that you said you didn’t turn the light on. Yes yes yes turn on the light! As soon as you see any sprout they need light immediately. Don’t wait for them all. The first one needs light.
You also should not have the dome on anymore, and no more bottom heat or heat mat, once they are at this stage. If there are some stragglers that haven’t sprouted you can put some plastic or a small cup over them to hold the moisture and help them get started.
I do all my sprouts under light. I don’t bother putting them somewhere dark. I get very high germination and I think my plants are generally healthy.