New plants leaning - can anyone help?

[NWB]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if someone could help? My fem white widow plants are leaning away from the light. Do the t5 lights look to close to the plant? I know it’s hard to see the lean… the front two are ok, but if you look at the back left corner, you can see the lean.

 

[Heywood]

How close are your lights?

From the position of the leaves (praying up towards the light) I think it is Ok.
It is just that one stem that is a bit wonky, right? Looks that the leaves are still reaching for the light on that plant.
You could straighten it out with a small splint like a toothpick or similar.

You don't have a fan blowing directly onto these seedlings do you?

Ladybugs!! Love 'em!

 

[NWB]

How close are your lights?

From the position of the leaves (praying up towards the light) I think it is Ok.
It is just that one stem that is a bit wonky, right? Looks that the leaves are still reaching for the light on that plant.
You could straighten it out with a small splint like a toothpick or similar.

You don't have a fan blowing directly onto these seedlings do you?

Ladybugs!! Love 'em!

Thanks for the fast reply! It’s actually the 3 back that have wonky stems! No fan… let me get a better picture… ladybugs are good right?

 

[Homesteader]

They look okay to me. Personally I would probably mound a bit of dirt around the stems but even if you don't they will be okay. Looks like they are getting good amount of light

 

[Madbud]

You can pile more soil around them for support. Fluorescent lights can be within inches, no heat there.

 

[quirk]

Pipe cleaner support system until you are able to provide sufficient light. When a seedling is not receiving enough light, a hormone is released causing rapid cell elongation
in the stem in an effort to get closer to the light.

 

[freezeland2]

Rotate the pots around a few times a day to face away from light. They’ll bend back. Eventually their stems will get firm enough to not fall over. Adding a little soil, pipe cleaner support are also great ideas from the other responses you received.

 

[Heywood]

… ladybugs are good right?

Yes! Lady bugs are awesome. I see 6 in that newest picture... did you purchase them and release them on your grow?
I imagine there is not much there for them to munch on in the way of pests, but you can also give them some wet raisins as a food source.
They also need a source of water. A damp paper towel is fine (not soaked)

 

[NWB]

Yes! Lady bugs are awesome. I see 6 in that newest picture... did you purchase them and release them on your grow?
I imagine there is not much there for them to munch on in the way of pests, but you can also give them some wet raisins as a food source.
They also need a source of water. A damp paper towel is fine (not soaked)

Ok great! They actually just showed up! Ok.. thank you for the info!

 

[NWB]

Rotate the pots around a few times a day to face away from light. They’ll bend back. Eventually their stems will get firm enough to not fall over. Adding a little soil, pipe cleaner support are also great ideas from the other responses you received.

Great ideas.. ty

 

[NWB]

They look okay to me. Personally I would probably mound a bit of dirt around the stems but even if you don't they will be okay. Looks like they are getting good amount of light

Ok thank you for the advice

 

[Edinburgh]

Here is a trick I allways use on wayward seedlings, take 2 bread ties smooth out, burn plastic off 1 half of 1 tie you will see a thin wire leave that end alone, attach the other tie to first just twist together, put wire end in dirt well away from seedling then make a loop around other end, gently put seedlings in loop and manipulate tie so it holds seedlings in place, I do this whenever a seedlings can't stand on its own and is about to fall over and works 100% of time. Allso a few times a day you should have been gently pushing seedlings back and forth this is called light lst ING and will stem harden faster.