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Gardening

Is there still hope for these seedlings?

sasha1 | Apr 3, 201508:58 AM     29

In 2 weeks, I went from excitement to anxiety. I'm a new gardener, and have always relied on starts from the nursery. We bought a few seed packets last year for direct sow in the garden (peas, carrots) which worked well. This year we decided to try it all from seed and most needed an indoor start.

As you can see from the photo, most of these guys are tall, thin, and have fallen over (or starting to lean). All except at the very right edge of the photo - the zuchinni, winter squash, and melon had bigger seeds are are coming up with heartier stems and leaves.

But for the rest - kale, brussels sprouts, tomatoes, herbs, fennel, they are looking weak. I planted 2 weeks ago. They are sitting about 5 inches below under-cupboard fluorescents in the kitchen that have been on about 12-14 hours a day. House temp is between 63 and 68. Watered each day by drip from the top. Sterile potting mix used, but the pots themselves are just from old start purchases that we've stored (not washed).

As I've been reading these last couple days, it seems maybe they aren't getting enough light, I should've watered from the bottom, I should've put a fan on them, should've cleaned the pots first, etc. Having not done any of those things (I actually don't know what to do about the light as I have not a single good sunny window in the house), my question is whether there is still hope. Can I still do something to strengthen these guys up or should I just start over? That's the single question I haven't seen answered in all the internet boards I've looked at.

Thanks gardeners!

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