Just can't seem to get it right

[bigblue]

This year in my first attempt at tomatoes and peppers from seed. I successfully germinated some seed (both hots and bells) a while back and the seedlings look healthy but are so small. I have not seen anything grow this slowly. I have to be missing something. These plants are 5 weeks and are between 3” and 4” tall. They are under lights, but every other day see window sunlight for a few hours. The lights are florescent tube and about 5” above the plants for 16 or so hours each day. They are planted in Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix and get Urban Farms Vegetable Fertilizer at ½ strength once a week. Any suggestions?

[luigiwu]

Mine are also growing extremely slowly (compared to tomatoes.) this is my first year as well. Eggplants appear to be slow(er) too!

[KarenO]

Where are they in your home? What is the temperature range? I see carpet, are they on the floor? I wonder if it's quite cool. That would slow them dramatically. They look healthy. I think they want some warmth.
KarenO

[clkeiper]

peppers are notoriously slow. I give mine a lot more fert, than that, too. I am not organic, I sprinkle a granular on the soil and water with a water soluble too, once a week.

[drew51]

Yeah organic ferts need microbes to break it down to something the plant can use i.e. break it down to soluble, why not use soluble and save a step? Once in bigger pots I actually add bacteria so organics work better. And yes they are slow, but agree, they are small for age.
Don't use that mix for seed starts, use MG seed start mix if you want to use a MG product. Expect fungus gnats though! It works though, decent medium!
If growing in peat, remember peat is somewhat anti-microbial! Good luck with organics in peat!
Here's my peppers at 8 weeks

[epsilon]

I think you're doing fine. Mine look about the same as you're if not smaller or more insect biten.

Heres some time lines, mind you i don't consider them germinated until they poke above the soil.

Carolina reapers start 4/12/14 germinated completely 4/23/14
trinidad 7 pot chocolate start 4/12/14 in process of germinating 4/25/14
doux de landes start 4/12/14 still germinating 4/25/14

not only are peppers slower but apparently super hots are even slower still, with some requiring up to a full month of germination time.

[bigblue]

To answer your questions, I set them on the floor for the photos so that’s why the carpet. The room they are in stays about 70 degrees. Is that maybe to cool? I was going to cool it off a little more for the tomatoes, I should probably should rethink that. If the Urban Farms Vegetable Fertilizer is not ideal, could I get a suggestion on what works for you? And I am impressed with those 8 week old plants. They look very healthy. I have heard bone meal is recommended? Can anyone advise.

[Father'sDaughter]

I'm using the Urban Farms Veg. Fertilizer this year and it seems to be working great, so I wouldn't think that's the issue. It might just be the lighting in the photos, but the potting mix seems to look too dry on the top. I've found that the MG potting mixes, especially the seed starting and organic ones, sometimes have difficulty absorbing water until it has been well saturated the first time, so unless I buy a bag that has already been saturated from sitting outside, I mix water into them before filling the pots. When I bottom water, I give them enough for the the soil darken on top, or I pick up a pot to make sure it's nice and heavy which means it's well saturated.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by bigblue

To answer your questions, I set them on the floor for the photos so that’s why the carpet. The room they are in stays about 70 degrees. Is that maybe to cool? I was going to cool it off a little more for the tomatoes, I should probably should rethink that. If the Urban Farms Vegetable Fertilizer is not ideal, could I get a suggestion on what works for you? And I am impressed with those 8 week old plants. They look very healthy. I have heard bone meal is recommended? Can anyone advise.

70°F is fine, peppers love heat.
5" is too far away for the lights. Try to keep the plants within 2". Get them outside on nice warm days (60°F+ is good without any cover) , a full day of sunlight even if it's overcast a bit really sparks faster growth. We Northern gardeners have to make the best use of what we got to grow heat and sun loving seedlings in the spring.

[suvoth]

I agree with a lot of comments on here. Although I am a newbie, I can give you a comparison shot of what my pepper plants look like because we are so close time wise. My peppers here (king of the north) are at 35 days (so exactly 5 weeks). I use a hot air heater. I have no idea what the temp is because it's a cheapo one that doesn't tell me the temp but I have it a fair ways away from the plant but the heat appears to be the only real difference between the two?

[b54red]

Some years peppers will grow slower than other years and this year seems to be one of them. My peppers this year started growing more slowly than usual and only took off when they were set outside and then only really took off when the days were in the 80s.
Last year some of my pepper varieties actually grew faster than my tomatoes. After many years of watching this phenomena occur I no longer get too worried as long as the plants are otherwise healthy looking and yours look fine.

Bill

[pondgardener]

I agree with RayR...5" seems too far away. Bringing the lights closer may release some additional warmth to the plants.

George

[bower]

The first year I grew peppers, I put the sprouted seedlings directly into 3 inch or 4 inch pots, and they grew super slowly. The next year I put them into cell packs first, and they did better. I put a few grains of bone meal in the lower half of the cell to encourage root growth and there are always decent roots by the time they are ready to pot up, about two weeks later. Those first weeks of growth are always slow, but they really take off when they're potted up, except for Chinense peppers which grow way slower than any others.

I have the impression that the larger space in a 4 inch pot makes it difficult to maintain the water relations exactly optimal, which is important for peppers. If you soak a large volume of soil, the seedling is too small to transpire it. If the soil is kept fairly dry instead, the seedling will grow more slowly because of that. In the little cells (72/1020) seedlings can be watered thoroughly and frequently without bogging them down with too much or too little. I do top watering always (but not wetting the leaves), and let it run right through. I think that's best practice to encourage them to root. I would never leave peppers standing in a wet tray though, and if there's standing water 1/2 hour after watering I will remove it, even for a large plant.

Your peppers look fine, I wouldn't worry, they'll come on. I think 70 F is optimal for them but they should also be fine at 65 F if they are 2-3 inches from the lights, they will get some extra heat from that.

In the pic attached, the small plants in square pots are two Early Jalapenos that were started late, sprouted March 30 so about 5 weeks old. They had two sets of leaves before I potted them up. The larger peppers are sweets Franks and Lipstick, germinated February 18 and started to flower April 18-20 about 60 days from germination: none set yet. They may be finding it glum and cold.

[ScottinAtlanta]

I think they look fine, too. Growing slowly is good for root growth, as well. And superhots always grow really slowly. In fact, that is why I overwinter. Scorpions, for example, germinate in 4-5 weeks, then grow slowly for weeks and weeks, then suddenly take off late in summer. The second year, production goes by a factor of 5.

For these seedlings, you can always spray them with a little kelp, up the heat, get more light, and they will speed up. Agree with other posts here.

[bigblue]

I appreciate all the ideas. Problem is, these plants are heading south in a hurry. Many are still 2” tall after 5-6 weeks. They are now pale green and many are bright yellow. They are dropping leaves at an alarming rate.