I started growing my brocolli early last September from seeds gathered from my plant I let go to seed last July, and, once it got too cold to stay outside, took care of it on the unheated front porch. Took it back into the garden in early April, knowing it likes it cool. Finally got a brocolli yesterday - May 21st. (Second plant is still thinking whether it feels like producing a head.) This really isn't slow. Sept is a bit late in zone 6 for it, so it mostly sat over the winter. That you ate a head already is quite good. Planted my oakleaf and looseleaf lettuce early last month. Squirrels got to half of the loose leaf variety, but covered it with chicken coop wire since then. Had the first of our oakleaf last night, and it's still quite young - about 1.5" tall. So about 45 days from seed? Not too bad given cool temps. It is a myth that days to maturity apply in the spring with cool air and soil, it is more true for summer planted stuff that matures in fall. I have some lettuce/mesclun about 3" tall, but most is much shorter. Just the way it is with cool temps. Have sown brussel sprouts in early spring and early September for three years now wiht nothing growing. It happens. Stop with the early spring sowing as it will produce inferior results, but around July/August in your area go ahead and plant from seed. Give them some extra nitrogen, they can use it, particularly in the first couple months. At least 68 up there. Give the warm season crops more heat. Try a heat mat if your ambient temps are 68F. They like it around 80-90F for really good growth. Also, don't skimp on light. If you can't do this, purchase plants instead of seeds for maters and peppers and direct sow cukes when days are above 70F and nights above 50F consistently. It doesn't sound like your plants are doing that poorly, maybe just that you have some expectations that won't hold up given what/when you are planting.

Trant, I grew several different types of lettuce 2 yrs ago under lights in my basement. They like it cool and the seeds germinate best with cool temps. I started the seeds in Dec and they grew soooo slow, but they grew and after about 40-50 days I was harvesting a little from about 10 plants. In March, I planted them outside in a cold frame. By that time they were nice size. Lettuce is more cold hardy than many people think and mine survived in the cold frame even though the temps dropped into the low teens. If you're really ambitious and you don't mind the wait, go for it. As Faithling says, there are other cool weather greens that you could grow also. This fall I had intended to start seeds in August and transfer them into my light garden when it got too cold but got busy doing other things. It is fun to do and I'll do it next year. Good luck~

I noticed the same issues with my plants. My Tepin and Mole sprouts are growing VERY slowly - 2 inches tall, just starting to grow their 2nd set of leaves. My sweet banana peppers are almost 4 inches tall with fully a developed 2nd set of leaves. After a few waterings, I have been giving all of my plants a full dose (10-15-10) of fertilizer. The Banana peppers love it. The leaves are long and thick. The hot peppers show no signs of fertilization.

"For instance, growing kale seedlings at 80F sounds like a recipe for failure - this is a cool-weather crop which would not appreciate anything over temps in the upper 60s. The same advice applies for growing most vegetable seedlings, including tomatoes." Did you read my previous comment about the effect of light and dark temperature differences on stem length? Did you ever try growing a plant with a higher dark period temperature than light period temperature? I did by growing tomato seedlings with lights on during the night and lights off during the day in a greenhouse. See http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2005610/how-to-easily-supplement-fluorescent-with-incandescent-light. I was struwwelpeter then. I call your attention to the following: "In hopes of keeping plants stocky, I will try to keep the average dark temperature higher than the average light temperature. To do this, the lights are on only from 6 PM to 10 AM. The greenhouse heater is set to go on below 55 deg. F. and the greenhouse ventilator fans and shutter are set to go on at more than 95 deg. F.. I am aiming for 80 deg. F. light temperature and 95 deg. F dark temperature." "To my amazement, these tomato plants are shorter but heavier looking than their greenhouse grown counterparts. The weather was mostly sunny, and, my Gro-Lux bulbs are decades old and used. Who would have guessed?" "Left to right, daylight, Gro-Lux, Gro-Lux Plus Incandescent. You can read the variety on some of the tags. The pots are 4.06 inches diameter at the top outside. http://www.general-cathexis.com/images/BigZac3.6.jpg http://www.general-cathexis.com/images/BestBoy3.6.jpg http://www.general-cathexis.com/images/VelvetRed3.6.jpg The biggest difference is with Velvet Red (which some people claim is the best tasting cherry tomato that isn't sweeter than a normal tomato). This is the first time I have grown it. It is supposed to have bluish foliage and fuzzy fruit."