That's because the distance is greater for them, and the light intensity reaching them might be about half of that the others are getting. (The ones directly below a lightbulb is getting high intensity light from that one, AND less intense light from the other one.)

To fix this problem for myself, I just put a second 4 foot fixture parrallel to the first, and have the flats under both of them. The edge of the light fixtures are directly over the edge of the flats. There is a small gap between the two, so the interior most plants do not have a light directly above them. All the rest do. There is no leaning in my set-up. I also have placed white panels (basically just sections of showerboard) along both sides of the setups, and rotate the flats weekly (flip the flats so that the ends that are on the edge of the lights, get a turn in the middle where the light is most intense).

My plants are happy, stocky and straight.

Lowes has 4' dual bulb T-12 40 watt fixtures for $10 by me.

Andrew

Oh, sorry, to clarify...

I have a four foot fixture, and there are two parallel bulbls in it.

And eagles, what do the white panels do? Are the seeds enclosed completely, or just enough for the light to reflect off them?

Yes, I have TWO four foot fixtures, EACH with two bulbs. (I have four bulbs that are 4 feet long over the flats. It fits two flats under the fixtures.)

The white panels are some things I had laying around. They are set up to reflect as much as possible back to the plants. I'm sure it doesn't do much, but I had them lying around, and they couldn't hurt. They are enclosed enough to reflect the light. The top is completely open, and they are in a room that stays around 60-65 degrees.

Sorry, I should have included this before:

The two bulb fixtures are narrower than the flats, so the outer edge plants are going to be leaning to get closer to the light. Adding a second fixture will widen your light source, and the outer plants will be as happy as the inner ones are currently. Basically, for an investment of less than $15 ($10 for the fixture, and about $3 for a pair of bulbs) you can eliminate the leaning. It won't cost much more on your electric bill either to run a second fixture 16 hours a day, and your plants will be much happier and healthier.

How much wider are your flats than your lighting fixture. My flats are only slightly wider than my fixture. My setup is against a wall so I taped aluminum foil to the wall and taped foil to the other side of the fixture hanging over the outside of the flats. This has really helped plus I also rotate the plants from the middle out.

karen,

With two light fixtures, my flats are about an inch to an inch and a half wider than the two light fixtures (I put this in the middle, to try to maximize light to ALL plants).

With only one fixture, the flat stuck out about 3 inches on both sides. I had "leaners" that way, and I didn't like it. So, this year, I got a 2nd light fixture, and now have all straight plants.

When I rotate, I just flip the flats. (The middle of the bulbs are brighter than the ends.)

Right now, I only have room for one light fixture. The flat is about three inches out on both sides. So not a huge deal, but just enough to cause a problem.

Karen, so you just taped the foil right onto the fixture? I didn't think this would be a problem, as the light doesn't get hot, but wasn't sure. My fixture is hanging from one of those collapsible clothes drying racks. So there is plenty of things to hang the foil from if it is a problem.

Thanks for the help guys!

Use duct tape, and you only have to use a few short pieces. When I want to look at the plants I lift up the foil to see. I've had the same foil in place for over a year. I'd recommend the heavy duty foil though.

Are your seedlings in individual packs in the tray? Could you rotate them in the flat under your lights?....Or shift the flat from one side to another so each seedling gets some time directly under the light? Or get another container to put you seedlings into that correlate with the shape of your shop light?

Tin foil is a great way to reflect the light back onto the plants. Just be sure that there is enough air circulation and you donÂt end up making a dome over the flat/light.

Hope one of those suggestions helps.

Keriann~