I am no expert (first-time grower), but that seedling looks very small for its age. By "fourth true leave", do you mean four actual leaves, or four pairs (i.e eight leaves)?

What's your lighting situation? What's their output, and do you know the color temperature? Looks like you have tubes hanging over the plants? How close are the lights to the plants, and how many plants under the lights?

I sowed around the same time you did, and my Jalapenos are 4-8" tall (I buried some while potting up), have 10-20 leaves and are generally growing quite fast. My slowest growers are Habaneros, but even those have 3-4 pairs of leaves by now.

They look to moist to me. Also, with two in the same pot that size they could be fighting each other at the root level. No expert, first year really growing, just my 2 cents.

Bill

I had two seedlings in the same pot until they were bigger than the one in the picture. If there's little nutrition in the medium I guess that could be a problem. I used a commercial seedling mixture, which contains mostly peat and small amounts of fertilizer.

Thanks everyone - I used commercial seedling mixture, I am using tube fluorescent lights that are 6500K, and they are just a few inches (less than 2) above the plants. By four true leaves, I mean actual leaves or two sets.

Would too much water be hurting them? It is possible that is the problem. I have probably a couple dozen plants that are all like this.....

It's my first time growing from seed, so no idea really what to expect, but it did seem to me that they are progressing VERY slowly. But they are progressing.

Any suggestions on what to do now welcome.

I had the same issue last season, and determined its the peat formed pots that are the problem.

The ones on the right in brown peat pots are the same age as the ones in the middle and the last row is two weeks or so behind them. I will never use peat pots ever again nor will I use those peat pellets.

I would repot in another container.

Mark

Thanks - I can do that! Anything else you would recommend at this point? If I use plastic cups (like red solo cups) I'm assuming I need to punch holes for drainage - what is the best/easiest way to do this? I'd like to get them re-potted ASAP.

Thanks - I can do that! Anything else you would recommend at this point? If I use plastic cups (like red solo cups) I'm assuming I need to punch holes for drainage - what is the best/easiest way to do this? I'd like to get them re-potted ASAP.

To give you an idea these are some of my plants this season started on Jan 12th. I grow under floro lights in the basement. The pic was taken a week ago.

Mark

This post was edited by habjolokia on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 19:57

All I really use is the Red plastic Solo cup. I stack about 10 together, get a drill with about a 1/4" bit and drill 5 or so holes around the bottom, fast and easy.

Bill

Thank you! Based on my work schedule, I probably will not be able to re-pot until Tuesday. After that, do you think they will recover/grow quickly enough to still be viable this year? How many sets of leaves do I need to make sure they have before they go in the ground (realizing the soil needs to warm up a lot still)?

I appreciate the quick responses - lesson learned, for sure!

I have repotted to red solo cups also. I use a screwdriver to puncture holes. I have a few later starts and a few seeds I am waiting on to sprout and I am in zone 7 and have plenty of time though it will be a late harvest, you have more time being in zone 8.

Mark

I Am Having Similar Problems. I Planted Mine On February 8Th And Look How Small Some Of Them Are. Its A Bit Annoying Really.

I Surmised That It Was Probably My Soil (Mg Seed Starting Mix Which Became Heavily Compacted) And Also My Weak Lighting (24" T-12s Which Are Daylight Bulbs Putting Out 6500K, But Only 20 Watts Each @ 1250 Lumens Each)

Once I Put Them All In Tapla Als 5-1-1 Medium And Got Them Into The Sun, They Started Getting Better, But Nowhere Near What These Other Growers'plants Look Like.

Glad to know I'm not alone and that there is hope :-) Now, next question - is there a trick to transplanting? I started to do this tonight (because I just couldn't wait) and had some trouble. The plants seem to have good roots, but the soil all fell apart. So, I had to basically put new soil in the cup, poke a hole with my finger, and then stick the plant down in that. It worked OK, but didn't seem as gentle as I would like to handle them!

Thats Exactly What I Did When I Transplanted A Week Ago From Small Clear Plastic CupsTo Large Styrofoam Cups. My Soil Was Dry, As It Should Be, And Really Crumbly. Two Of My Seedlings Didn't Make It, But The Rest Seem To Be Growing A Bit Faster Now. Not Much, But A Bit.

If you don't have the time to make the 5-1-1 mix. MG Orchid mix is great for growing peppers in. It will get expensive though for keeping in containers but since you mentioned you wanted to plant in ground this is a good medium to keep them growing healthy until you plant.

Mark

In comparison to yours, the ones on the left are mild jalapenos, and some of the bell peppers. Those were started from seeds feb. 22nd - so about 1 month or so ago.

OMG! I am SO glad I found this forum and thread! My peppers are so small and haven't been doing squat in the peat pots. I can not wait to leave work at lunch and go home to replant the little suckers in "real" pots.

Ya'll have been a HUGE help! I'll post before and after pics as soon as there are some results to show for my efforts. :)

Jennieboyer:
Last year, I had a very similar problem. It turned out to be the type of soil I was using. I suggest you get good well draining soil and repot. Check my blog from last year. It will give you a better idea of what I mean.
Scroll back in the blog to march of last year and check the problem I was having until I repotted everything. Once I did, they took off, but they were down to essentially sticks before I repotted. Even the seed leaves had mostly fallen off.
Bruce

Here is a link that might be useful: 2012 Pepper Blog

Thanks for the post, Bruce. That is exactly what is happening to me! I have repotted them last night into red solo cups with the same commercial seedling mix they were in (with a bunch more added). Now wondering if I should bite the bullet and pot them a third time into azalea potting mix? Would that give them even more of a chance, or likely increase their stress?

What is the ambient temperature? The cooler it is the slower they'll grow.

The ambient temp is about 70-72 degrees.

Now that they are repotted in the solo cups, I'm wondering if I should put them in azalea mix or just leave them alone for a while. Also wanting to be sure I don't over water them - I think that could be part of the problem.

How long do you think it will be before I see signs of growth? Want to give them the time they need, but I'm also not patient!

Wondering if I should plant a "backup" batch now in azalea mix or just wait it out.....

Jennie: as long as they're not looking stunted or unhealthy, backups shouldn't be needed. For now, keep them "underwatered." Don't expect too much at first--- they just went through a transplant. Keep the lights on 'em and they'll probably do fine.

However, doing backups is never a bad idea --- you can always just give them away... or EAT more peppers than anticipated. ;)

Kevin

jennieboyer: To be safe, I would have repotted into completely different soil. If you are experiencing the same issue as I had, repotting into the same type of soil is unlikely to help.
Bruce

Incidentally, Bruce, Your Grow Blogs From 2011 And 2012 Are Great Resources. I Consult Them All The Time. I Advise Any Newbie To Look At Them.

I agree with jifjifjif, Bruce's grow logs are indeed helpful. Also agree with Bruce on the repotting to a different growing medium. I would suggest MG Orchid mix as its a good medium for peppers.

Mark

This post was edited by habjolokia on Fri, Mar 22, 13 at 7:51

Yah, my blogs are mostly a chronicle of what not to do. haha But that is the main reason that I keep them is so that I can refer back to them when I have similar situations pop up and to keep myself from making the same mistakes over and over.

And I use MG orchid Mix for starting my peppers as habjolokia suggests. It is a little expensive, but for just starter containers, it goes a long way, has good drainage and some good premixed nutrients. Best of all, it doesn't keep your seedlings at 1" tall for two months straight.
Bruce

Thanks for all the help and answers! One more question (for now) :-)

I went to get orchid mix this morning, and I'm not sure how I'm going to make it work - it is very "chunky" and my seedlings are very linear - there's not a lot of support to hold them up in a chunky mix. I'm concerned that when I put them into this mix there will be tons of air pockets/space that will not properly hold them up. Am I missing something or did I get the wrong stuff? The mix I got is raw fir bark, hardwood charcoal, and coarse perlite. It is what both Lowe's and Home Depot showed me when I asked for orchid mix. It is not MG brand (they didn't have that), but is Better Gro brand.

Continued help is VERY much appreciated!

Chunky is good. Air spaces in the mix and fast draining is exactly what you want. The dirt doesn't "hold up" the plants; the roots do. And roots will just snuggle down into this stuff and smile. If your plants are very leggy you can set them deeper than they are now.

That said, I don't know this Better Gro mix If it is as bereft of "soil" as you suggest, you can always mix a little in. Research "5:1:1 mix" for background. That is 5 parts pine bark, 1 part peat (or dirt), 1 part Perlite. Quite chunky.

When you transplant you will want to leave most or all of your present soil behind.

MG Orchid mix is what you need, some of the other brands of Orchid mix the bark is large as well as perlite and as you pointed out charcoal. MG Orchid mix has smaller parts of bark and perlite with some peat mixed in and contains no charcoal. Can you take a pic of the orchid mix you have so we can see how course it is. I am not sure how charcoal will affect the peppers.

I am surprised since I pick up my MG orchid mix from Home Depot.

Mark

The MG orchid mix has some peat in it as well as the perlite. I know my home depot carries it and I think nearly every Walmart does as well. The bark chunks in the mix should be small. Approximately 1/4" or less. As Habojolokia states, some Orchid Mixes have chunks nearly an inch big. The photo below shows some of my seedling from last month with the MG Orchid mix.

You Can Also See How Dry The Soil Should Be In Bruce's PIcture.

@jennieboyer
I have purchased miracle grow orchid mix and Shultz. The Shultz is very similar to the chunky mix you described, I mix equal parts of the Shultz orchid mix and Shultz potting mix and extra perlite. After its all mixed up its much closer to the miracle grow consistency minus a few extra large bark chunks. Its been working quite well so far this year :)
Hear is a pic of a red savina habanero (planted in soil jan 31) just after watering.

Some of you guy's progress is amazing ! I initially put most of these seeds in the germination box on jan 24.

i think there about 35 of these altogether,.mostly t-scorps,some jalapeno,cayenne and serrano.

They all look healthy, and I think their slow growth can be attributed to the fact that their only light right now is in a west facing window. Last weekend it got up to 60 degrees, sunny and a lil windy so I took them out on the porch and they got some filtered sun and seemed to love it ! I think once all chance of the last frost has passed and I put them back on the deck they will explode !!