Stretching for the sky...

9 seedlings. (Nine Muses.)

2nd grow. I had stretching problems the first time, but that was a year ago under ghetto CFL bulbs I found around the house. Now these kids, popped out of the soil barely 3 days ago, are spurting upwards. They're under a 400W MH. The worst stretcher is 3" tall and only about 1/2-3/4" wide at the top. The light is 20 inches above the plant directly under it.

Is that too far away? I had read "18-24" inches was a good space for these hot lights. The temperature is around 82 daytime. The relative humidity has been frighteningly low--ranging from 20-25. I'm afraid if I lower the light the plants on the fringes will bend sideways to get anything. Do I need to go lower than 20 inches? What is the lowest safe distance for 3-day olds?

Muchas gracias,

GoldenAss

Id run em no lower than 36" till they get a few sets then lower it 18-24" away

It seems if I go any higher than I am now they're start to look like sunflowers.

If the temp never gets higher than ~86, is there reason to go higher if that means more stretching?

pack some dirt up to the first set of round leaves.

GoldenAss said:

It seems if I go any higher than I am now they're start to look like sunflowers.

If the temp never gets higher than ~86, is there reason to go higher if that means more stretching?

Click to expand...

You could get them under some 48" tubes 1" away and they will stop stretching. A little bit of stretching early isn't bad IMO. Tubes work best for seedlings though.

cfls super close or tubes almost touching.A fan will add hardiness