Yea I totally get it... I started off with one LED light and quickly learned that isn't enough for everything. Upgraded to some fluorescent lights and others and saw much better growth. The plants look extra healthy, just leggy. I'll trench them and hope for the best. Thanks!

you can cut them and root them. from my experience, leggy plants just end up being weak no matter what later on. they will never reach their full potential. so depending how leggy they really are, you could always cut the stem and root the top portion and you'll end up with a much stronger plant if you provide adequate lighting.

keep in mind the fluorescents also have to be very close to the plants.. if they are T5 HO then 4-6 inches.. anything else, 2-3 inches above the plants with some air flow from a fan.

Not that bad, Norm.

Most seedlings grown by us under light are like yours. Those are plantable right now. You can use some pencil/finger thick bamboo stick to support them temporarily. And I will plant them a bit deeper too such that cot leaves node is buried about 1".

Another factor, IMO, that make seedlings leggy is high temperatures and too much watering.

Sey

But peat pots absorb a LOT of water and these seedlings do not look overwatered to me. They look healthy, and simply planting them (as Dave suggests) with much of the stem buried will be fine.

Linda

I suggest you take them out of the peat pots or at least slash the peat pots well before planting out.

Cool, thanks for the responses. I guess I judged mine against the steroid-filled ones at the garden store HAHA. I'm warming up soil now and in a few days they'll be hardened off, and a bunch of them are going to a friend. *crosses fingers*

" steroid-filled ones at the garden store "

That is a myth. No steroids are used, just much different growing conditions provided for them. Primarily the amount of light they get and the temps they are grown at in greenhouses.

Dave

Maybe not steroids (although they do LOOK as if they are on steroids {LOL}), but they do use growth inhibitors at the garden stores!

Linda

" but they do use growth inhibitors at the garden stores!"

No reputable grower does on food crops and it is a false claim we are constantly fighting. The cost alone is prohibitive much less the time and work involved to incorporate them into the process.

So if you know for a fact that they have been used then I'd suggest you find a different vendor/supplier. Most garden stores do not grow their own transplants. They sell them on consignment for bulk growers.

Dave