I agree with bejay - legginess is not enough light. It's difficult sometimes to provide enough but it can be done. Cooler temps for cole-type crops such as you mention also helps but light is the vital factor. You'll find several discussions on this problem currently running over on the Growing from Seed forum. They include info on how to transplant the seedlings deeply so that they can be salvaged and suggestions on ways to provide more light. Good luck. Dave

All the big box stores and hardware centers carry economical T5, T8 and T12 four foot shoplights with normal outlet plugs. I think my total ran $30. Yes... some do look leggy. Regarding temps, I've noticed that HIGH temps can cause brassicas to get leggy. For warm weather crops, those sound like ideal temps for the most part -- ideally, around 80-85 soil temp. Usually, though, the main reason plants get leggy is from trying to stretch towards light. So.... once the seeds emerge, IMMEDIATELY under the lights and keep the tops of the plants no more that 2 inches below the lights throughout the "lighting" stage of growth. Hope this helps. Kevin This post was edited by woohooman on Mon, Jul 22, 13 at 16:17

Brickie: I think you need to pay a little more attention to soil and bed preparation, and a little less to planting dozens of indoor seedlings. In fact, I would spend the entire first season killing the grass back with Roundup or covering with heavy black plastic, followed by spading, tilling, and the addition of a large amount of compost, leaves, or other organic materials. Plunking down a melon bed right in the middle of what was previously lawn, even if you use landscape fabric, is just not going to work very well. You may have pretty good native soil there in Illinois, but you need to create the conditions for vine crops to thrive, and they can't do it in compacted soil that is full of grass or grass roots. To be healthy and productive, vine crops must be able to form very extensive roots, which follow the vines above. Vine crops like cantaloupes and watermelons really sprawl, and you have enough seedlings started there to cover about a quarter-acre. When you start vine crop seeds indoors, you need to transplant them very carefully, with minimal disturbance to the developing root structures. If you try to separate them they will quickly die. It is best to start only 2-3 seeds in each pot so you can plant the whole unit. Each pot would be the basis for one hill, and hills should be placed about 6 feet apart minimum for these vines. How much of you lawn are you planning to convert to a melon patch? The whole thing? No, Brickie. Start over. Use this year to build a bed, enrich your soil, and toss those seedlings. Then next year plant fewer seeds in fewer pots, and make sure you have the conditions for them to really thrive. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Be careful on the spacing between plants and the halide light. Growers that are used to 'cold' florescent lamps may not realize how hot a 400w hadile light can be. Imagine a 400w room heater, all watts eventually end up as heat. I don't use halide myself, so I checked out advice on the web. As far as I can tell you should start with about 3 ft distance, monitoring the leaves for any drying. I would be tempted to place a fever thermometer by the plants to get some idea of the temperature before waiting for leaf damage. I would agree that leggy tomato seedlings should be transplanted up to their leaves. This is regularly done with tomato plants of all sizes.