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Old May 19, 2016   #69
clkeiper
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
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Originally Posted by TFdaggar03 View Post
We have been growing tomatoes from seed for the past 5 years with moderate success. We read everything that we can get our hands on to try & improve the structure of the plants & overcome the difficulty that I will get to in a moment. What we grow are Heirloom's, Hybrids, determinate & indeterminate's. Our success in the early stages is fine, but as the plants develop further & show promising growth patterns, our nemesis of tall, spindly, leggy stalks becomes evident. Foliage is adequate to the plants size, color is rich green & the overall health of the plant is good.....except for the tall, spindly stalk. We are using fluorescent fixtures w/ Agro lamps. Additionally; the temperature of our growing space is kept between 52-58 degrees, Lastly; within the space is a North facing window directly in front of the plant beds. At this point we are of the opinion that the artificial light source is not producing a quality of light adequate to promote more robust plants at an earlier stage. So the idea that we have been toying with for next season is to take a page from the marijuana growers play-book & switch to full spectrum LED's. 2 questions for the community in closing: First; is anyone else using LED's as a light source & Secondly; based on the limited information that I have posted, does anyone see problems with our current protocol & in your considered opinion, is it a light source issue at all or something else entirely? Please bare with us as we are new & while our intentions are good, tend to ask many questions. Thank you all.

My thought is get them outside as quick as possible after germination. These are intended for gardening, right? the temperature fluctuation and air movement makes for a huge difference in the plant growth than babying them under grow lights. I have mine in a greenhouse ( I sell) and I let them wilt continuously on the bench (I spray water over the foliage and don't saturate the media). I want to keep them sturdy and tough so when they go "home" to their new garden they won't keel over with the wind and lack of moisture in the new environment. in your window area also place an oscillating fan to mimic wind movement or gently brush your hand over them several times a day to move them about..it toughens up the stem and makes it sturdier.
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