Please critique my setup

Last year I decided to start a garden in the early summer. I bought a few plants and enjoyed alot of tomatoes and a few green peppers and cucumbers. This year I decided to grow plants from seeds. Ive been learning as I go along, and ive made alot of mistakes along the way. I bought 3 of the 72 cell seed starting kits. I got alot of my seeds from a local store, and a few from online. I know its alot of plants, but im giving alot away to family and friends. Not sure how big my garden is going to be this year since im changing things up, but it should be a nice size. I will be growing several different kinds of tomatoes and peppers, green onion, squash, jalapenos, snap peas, green beans, dill, romaine and iceberg lettuce, and im sure theres a few others. I started each 72 cell at different times because I was waiting for seeds to come in the mail. I will attach a few pictures below.

[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/billm0066/DSCN0014.jpg[/IMG]

Im using a fluorescent fixture that has one plant/aquarium bulb and one natural daylight bulb.

[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/billm0066/DSCN0015.jpg[/IMG]

I was reading its a good idea to put a small fan on the plants to help make them stronger. Is that true? Its set on low and oscillating.

[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/billm0066/DSCN0016.jpg[/IMG]

Tomato plants in this one look very leggy and droopy. Is this a bad sign?

[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/billm0066/DSCN0017.jpg[/IMG]

These are all tomato and green pepper I got off the internet.

[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/billm0066/DSCN0018.jpg[/IMG]

The green beans are getting very tall. I just got back from a 1 week vacation and they went from nothing to this. I was just reading tonight green beans and cucumbers are not good to start indoors, and they are just stretching for light. Is that true?

[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l163/billm0066/DSCN0020.jpg[/IMG]

I guess what im wondering is am I setting myself up for a big failure? I didnt realize the plants would grow so fast and kind of grow together. They probably should have been organized a little better. I live in Michigan so I think its still a little early to start planting them outside. I did take two of the trays out for a couple hours of sunshine and a few hours of dark to help them get used to it. I plan on doing it each night until my garden is ready and it warms up a bit more. Is there aything else I should do? Do I need to remove certain plants and put them in bigger containers?

Finally im building a couple raised vegetable beds. I found a local company who delivers top soil. Is top soil good enough with a little plant food, or should I mix something else in?

This message was edited May 3, 2009 2:13 AM

This message was edited May 3, 2009 2:14 AM

IMG tags don't work here. To share pics, you have to upload them directly from your computer, and one per post. You will find the place to do this below the posting window (Image: and then Browse for what you want to add).

I did look at your pics though, by pasting the links between the IMG tags into my browser and/or going to your album.

You have major problems with the seedlings in front (looks to be your tomatoes) and this is because they are just too far away from the lights. Lights should be no more than an inch or two from the tops of the plants. Another problem is that they aren't directly under the lights either. Dropoff of light even just a few inches past floros (either from above or to the sides past the footprint of the fixture) is extreme.

What you show needs to have at least two fixtures to cover the area, plus plants need to be arranged from tall to short and the shorter ones propped up with something to get them close to the light.

Much of this stuff should really be restarted in my opinion, especially the tomatoes. Just too lanky to salvage, even if you were to bury stems and pot deep, etc.

This is why I say you need at least one more fixture to effectively cover the footprint of your seedlings, and also need to arrange plants short to tall and prop the shorter ones up so they are close to the lights:

Your beans and curcurbits are lanky too. Some look like they -might- be salvageable, that is if they go out in the garden immediately. Personally, I would probably start over on most of those too, especially if you can't get them out right now in your MI climate.

Beans, peas, and curcurbits (squash) are things I generally prefer to just direct sow. Just easier, I have found. That way there is no hardening off period, and really all that stuff grows like weeds when the soil is warmed up and you wait to direct sow using recommended planting dates for your area, which you can get from your local extension service.

I tend to save the lights for things like tomatoes and peppers, maybe some lettuce, etc. Stuff that gets viney and tall fast under lights gets direct sowed.

I decided to restart my tomato plants if they dont look any better tomorrow. I kept them out for a few hours in the sun today but they dont look any better.

First question, if I restart the tomatoes, should I just transplant as soon as the emerge from the dirt, or should I keep them in the basement for 4-5 weeks with the lights a couple of inches away? In a few weeks it should be warmer out and not drop below 50 at night.

If I keep them in the house for 4-5 weeks, should I transplant each plant in bigger containers once they get a couple inches tall, or should I just put them directly in the garden? If I put them in larger pots, do they stay inside under the lamps, or should I put them outside?

How many hours a day should I have the lamps on? I have a timer set for 16 hours right now, but I can easily adjust to less or more time if needed.

Sorry for all the newbie questions, but im new to vegetable gardens and I really want this to be a success. Besides I promised plants to a few people, so I would like to come through for them with healthy plants. Thanks in advance!

Nice set up. You obviously spent quite a bit of money and put in a lot of work. It puts my plastic cups on the windowsill to shame. Still, it's obvious that these plants are desperately short of light. Most appear too frail and spindly to save.

To put in three 72-cell boxes the way that you have looks like it will need 2, or more probably 3 pairs of lights to cover properly. Put them on separate switches so you can ramp up as you plant more seeds. You will also need to use wood blocks, telephone books, or something to get the young plants up near the lights. A gap of a couple of inches is ideal.

The fan appears to be a good idea although you probably only need it a couple of hours a day. I am sure that the others who actually use grow lights can better advise you on that. You obviously already know that the plants need some dark time for rest too.

While I must admit that one two-day trip to Chicago, IL in January is my only experience of mid-west winter weather (that was more than enough!), I wonder at some of the plants you have chosen. Dill is cold hardy, and notoriously hard to transplant because of its deep tap root. Most lettuce, including romaine and iceberg, love cool weather and laugh at a light frost. I planted mine outside in early March, and have been eating it for the last week or so. Last year we had 6 inches of snow after my seedlings had germinated, and my dill, lettuce and carrots all still thrived.

Beans, peas and most squash grow like weeds. It is usually easier to plant them outside once the weather is good enough.

If you want to try to save any tomatoes, you might try to cut off all but the top 4 real leaves, and plant them in the ground ASAP, with all but the leaves and about 2 inches of stem below ground. Since tomatoes (and only tomatoes) will root like crazy from stem, being leggy is not a total loss. You can either bury the plant down, or lay the stem in a shallow trench. For cool nights you can cover them with row cloth, or perhaps make a cloche by carefully cutting the bottom from a 1gallon plastic milk jug. Be sure to remove it on warm sunny days or you will cook the plant. Normally I would recommend hardening off plants before going outside, but in this case, I think time is critical. You might be better off to just cross your fingers and go for it. Since you are planting more anyway, you lose nothing if it does not work.

Ed