I'm trying to figure out why some are starting to lean. Bottom watering only-about once a week. T8 lights about 2 inches above seedlings. No fertlizer yet. I thought about trying to put a little more dirt around the plants to make them a little deeper and stabilize them a bit.

I would have already potted them up, into a coarse textured, fast draining potting mix. A starter mix is totally wrong for the job.

Start fertilizing as soon as you pot them.

They appear to be etiolated....perhaps insufficient light, temperatures that are too warm, etc. Leaning is typically due to a plant stretching towards the light.

Thank you. I will repot. I'm so used to buying plants in cell packs I didn't realize reporting would b necessary until I started reading more. I've got 4 t8 bulbs over 4 flats-bulbs about 2inches from plants. I have a 9 inch fan (smallest the store had). I wondered if the fan was too strong causing them to lean. Thank you again.

You can keep them in cell packs, just use a good coarse medium and one seedling per cell. I germinate seeds in a flat just for that purpose, then transplant them while they are still very little, placing them in cell packs until it's time to plant in the garden.

My germination time, however, begins in the winter in advance of spring planting.

Is potting mix the same as potting soil?