Wave Petunias Not doing so well

13 years ago

First let me say I am a total newbie to this, and I want to thank everyone in advance for their responses to my post.
I went gung-ho this year and bought a heat mat a grow light, self watering seed trays, etc. Everything sprouted fine, but the growing since then seems very slow to me. I started the seeds the end of march and kept them in my basement, (which may be part of the problem, the temperature was too low even with the heat mat)They look healthy, just small and have very thin stems. I also started Bicopa from seed and they are even smaller, I will assume that the problems are related. What can be done (if anything) to save these little guys and speed their growth? AND...what did I do wrong to cause this. Very frustrated, so much time and money wasted...grr.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:241027}}

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Comments (6)

SaraElise
13 years ago
Looks like insufficient lighting is the biggest problem. They are leggy and are trying to stretch toward the light on the right. What kind of grow light did you get? If you have a long growing container, you need either a long lightbulb (office fluorescent style) or 2 round types spread over each half (lamp style bulbs).
SaraElise
13 years ago
Most on the right look like they will be okay once they are in better light. The extra long ones on the left probably can't be saved -- unless you can repot them and include most of the stem under the soil. That's fine for some plants, but I'm not sure about petunias.
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art33
13 years ago
Hi mike and welcome to GardenWeb! I agree with the other post, it appears the seedlings did not get enough light. What kind of grow light are you using and how far from the light were the seedling? One or two inches is usually about right for fluorescent tubes. Also, what kind of growing medium are you using, any nutrients in it?

Art
mikerond
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for all the responses so far! I used a 2 ft 2 bulb fixture with actual grow lights. I should have mentioned in the picture that the plants that are REALLY legy on the left are lettuce, basil plants, they are about 3-4 weeks old. So just look at the healthier ones on the right. Should they be out in the sunlight now? Or still use the grow lights 16 hrs a day? I had the lights @ 6 inches from the seedlings, and no nutrients until now I mixed a half weak solution of miracle grow and am using that as my water.

This post was edited by mikerond on Sat, May 11, 13 at 20:52
SaraElise
13 years ago
I would give up on the lettuce and basil. Pull those seedlings and reseed the pots. Then, drop the light closer. I would keep them inside under the light for a few weeks and then start hardening them off for outside.
art33
13 years ago
I agree with what Sara said. As for the lights, if the bulbs are T8 or T12 move them to about an inch or two from the plants. If they are T5s you might want to keep them a little farther away because the T5s get a little hotter.

It's good that you're now feeding at half strength.

Art

PS - There's an older post on GardenWeb about growing petunias (see link below) that you might find helpful. Be sure to scroll way down to a post by 'triplediamond' and view his petunia pictures!

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Petunias

This post was edited by art33 on Sun, May 12, 13 at 1:28