Why are seedlings so small? Can I plant outside anyway?
sisterrific
13 years ago
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obrionusa
13 years agoezzirah011
13 years agoRelated Discussions
why are all these leaves growing so small?
Comments (60)> I read they do not like direct light, but rather need bright, indirect. My understanding was that even the strongest fluorescent T5 light you can give plants equals to this "bright indirect" light level from plant culture descriptions - because real sun is SO MUCH brighter. I was at an orchid show a couple of weeks ago at New York Botanical Garden, and they had a lot of companion plants including many species of Maranta and Calathea growing on the floor of the greenhouses. I should totally have measured the light there with my phone (unlike orchids, these did not seem to be temporary exhibit, so it would have been meaningful), but I did not think to do it. Maranta growing in the ground is quite a sight to see, by the way. It's a very low ground cover - its habit is to try to grow roots into the soil at every node, so it does not reach up at all, except for its tiny little purple (or white) flowers. Very cute. I am thinking how to replicate this look at home. When it was growing on my window sill a winter ago, a long vine crept along the window sill - and it did flower at that time as well. I cut it up at that time to fill out the pot, but I am starting to think just letting it crawl where it wanted to go was a better idea. It does not seem to want to grow upright at all. > can you take a light measument? I did, finally. On my light stand, it was getting around 200-700 fc (it was on the less bright shelf not directly under lights). On the bathroom counter, I get 15-20 fc. This is with an uncalibrated phone light meter app, so absolute levels may be wrong, but comparatively, they do tell a story, I think. The plant stand was getting 16 hours a day on a timer at the time, and the bathroom day is roughly as long (manual turn on/off), maybe a bit shorter....See MoreWhy start seedlings in small pots vs straight to 4' pot
Comments (6)Just sharing a tip. I starts lots of things from seeds, and have been doing it for years and years. Last year I had my best pepper transplants EVER! This is what I did: 6-7 evenly spaced pepper seeds planted into a 4" pot. When plants were about 2-3" tall they were each transplanted into a 4-4.5" pot. Voila!! No losses, no issues. This sowing/transplanting scheme happened because I did not need to sow many seeds of each pepper variety, and I just did not have the time to transplant earlier and transplant multiple times into ever larger pots. This saved me time and energy, and the plants thrived:)...See MoreHow early can I put plants outside?
Comments (4)You can get cheap fluorescent fixtures at places like Wal*Mart for as little as $8.99 w/2 40w bulbs. All the plants you mentioned are heat lovers. You can't put them outside in the daytime until it's at least in the 60s, 70s are better. To leave them out all night it has to be in the mid to high 50s, 60s are better. This is from my personal experience....See MoreScotch Bonnet- why so small?
Comments (50)ohh.. you mean fresh out of the bag? Then maybe. Still, it shouldn't smell like manure unless it's maybe bagged GARDEN soil where once it's added to the garden, it can be broken down. If you ever get a potting soil that smells like that, give it some good flushes and wait a good couple weeks before planting. Usually an indicator of unfinished composting. Btw, I'm with Josh on letting it go. And yes, I'd keep plucking pods and buds for awhile. It may have been stunted some but it looks like it just might recover. It's hard to kill a pepper plant. Kevin...See Moreobrionusa
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