Saood Since I didn't plan on having tomato plants in pots, I wasn't ready & used whatever I had on hand. Many of them were 1 gallon pots, few 3 gallons. That is pretty small. But in spite of small pots, they grew well & whatever plants I had, they produced some tomatoes. Plenty to sample them all, and even save seeds for next spring. I only managed to plant in ground about 15. Photos in my previous postings are showing seedlings started without any additional lighting, just in front of south window. So yes, they are leggier than should be. Once they have at least 1 set of 'true' leaves, I pot them up into bigger pots. Seedlings grown in peat pellets I usually pot up into 3 or 4" pots. I burry them as deep as possible, which is most of the main stem. This is when I start adding fertilizer whenever watering. (BTW, if you are looking only at asparagus seedlings, I think they are just about right - maybe just a bit etoliated, since asparagus has very long/tall ferny stalks.) I try to put them outside ASAP to get as much sunlight as possible (make sure you aclimitize them well, even if grown under lights). Sometimes I pot them up second time into larger pots. I try to get deep pots, since tomatoes have large root system. (the attached photo is showing tomatoes potted-up second time, from 4" pot into 6-7" pot that are much deeper). Large distance from light source would slow the growth, I believe they need any light you could possibly supply, short of burning them (as you asked about in another thread - I think it was about CFL's). If you growing only few plants, maybe you could try to nurse the sluggish ones to health. Besides what I mentioned, I can't think of any other reason for them being so slow. I don't have experience growing jalapenos. I would make sure of good air circulation; proper watering; as much light as possible. Don't start fertilizing too early - not so healthy plant can't use fertilizer. To get some really good tips on growing in containers, there are many very experienced members on container forum growing peppers, tomatoes etc. Being fall here, you may not get as fast reply as it would be in season. Rina This post was edited by rina_ on Mon, Oct 28, 13 at 11:28

Over watering a likely cause? Very much so. It also can cause cotyledons to fall off while still green because the tap root is water-logged. I grow thousands of tomato plants each year for sale and the thing that retards and/or kills more seedlings than anything else is over-watering. We go through discussions of this topic over and over every year at this time here and consistently over-watering proves to be the cause of the problems. Everyone does it even when they are absolutely sure they are NOT doing it. It becomes compulsive. If a little is good then more must be better, right? No. When they can be convinced to cut their watering in 1/2 they are always amazed how quickly the plants improve. Sure plants won't grow if the soil is too heavy but they also won't grow if it is too wet regardless of how heavy it is or isn't because the roots are lacking in air. All the water has forced it out of the soil. Prove it to yourself. Cut the watering on 1 tray and see how the plants do when compared to those you continue to water as you normally would. Dave

@Ohiofem I'll try raising the temp, thanks. I don't have control of my thermostat since I'm in a dorm and with the insane weather we've been having the temp in my room has been swinging from low 60s to nearly 90, depending on the weather and sunlight. The last few days the temps in my room were about 60-65 average, but now with warmer weather they're hanging at 70. @dickiefickle I know my light is a POS, but I was hoping it would be sufficient for the purpose. My room faces south and has lots of ambient sunlight, but it's cloudy most days here and so not strong enough for seedlings, based on what I've read. @the0ry Well, since I can't get a good price reselling them, may as well make them useful! @Capoman It's a fluorescent. Model 7020 E GL, some googling of forum posts says it has about 1200 lumens. Is that enough for roughly 2 square feet of plants? If not, would it be better to buy an additional fixture or install a better bulb? @Dave I've read most of those posts already, and was hoping someone had an idea of what part of my setup was causing the most issues, since it's hard to diagnose without experience. Thanks for the link though, there were a few new reads.

Wow, nice temperatures! But yes, they need something. Most likely fertilizer. For just-germinated seedlings, I'd use a diluted version of what is recommended on the fertilizer package, but once they're past the cotyledon stage, you can probably lean toward full strength. You need to just keep the soil moist a half an inch or so down. Water with that fertilizer as often as you need to keep it so. Yes, it's amusing how potting and starting soil vendors use encouraging words without using the right ones. Makes it sound like everything you need is in this bag! The soil you got ensures high performance and reliability with regard to soil structure, and as such is ideal for containers. But oh yeah, you have to add some food. I really think those words, which all potting soil vendors use in one way or another, is deceptive labeling. One might wonder why such soils don't just include some fertilizer. I suspect the reason is that it would have to be a slow release version, and they'd have to admit that, eventually, it would leach out and need to be supplemented.