Leggy seedlings ? LED’s too dim ?

A NewPhase · Dec 1, 2025

Hello all, hope ur having a good day.
I have 5 indica’s in soil with worm castings and perlite, and this is my first time getting leggy seedlings.
Now i do have a new lite, and trying not to scorch them, i think i had it on too low. I started with a PAR of 160(day1), then upped it to 200(day3), now its at 260(day6). What do you start yours at ???

The lite is a new MedicGrow Venus 2x4 using the “B” side of my GLC-1 controller

Phyto · Dec 2, 2025

They're a little leggy, but not bad. You could drop the light down a few inches and see how they react. If they're still a bit tall when you transplant, bury the stem to just below the cotlyedons.

JIMKSI64 · Dec 2, 2025

First of all excellent way to raise the lights. Incremental nice and slow. No reason to even think about slamming it way up. 200-350 is " normal " whatever that means.
During my grow I run the lights up 3 times at least. Slowly rise until I get a complaint but I would not do this with a new sprout like that. To little gives you stretch but that is fine when you have a repot situation soon anyways.
And by soon before the roots can see light through the container. About the span of the leaves.

Ninjadogma · Dec 2, 2025

A NewPhase said:
Hello all, hope ur having a good day.
I have 5 indica’s in soil with worm castings and perlite, and this is my first time getting leggy seedlings.
Now i do have a new lite, and trying not to scorch them, i think i had it on too low. I started with a PAR of 160(day1), then upped it to 200(day3), now its at 260(day6). What do you start yours at ???
View attachment 2572065

The lite is a new MedicGrow Venus 2x4 using the “B” side of my GLC-1 controller

Not leggy at all, I get more stretch from natural sunlight than that. What you really want to watch is how much distance it throws between the nodes from this point moving forward. From the soil to the cotyledons can be a stretchy stem, you shouldn't see that amount of stretch above the cotyledons and if it's putting some noticeable distance between nodes, it probably needs more light. Genetics are in play here too though.

Edit: You were asking about the starting ppfd. mine pop outside, so.... 1500 ppfd? Maybe as high as 2000?

RGWD0202 · Dec 2, 2025

A NewPhase said:
Hello all, hope ur having a good day.
I have 5 indica’s in soil with worm castings and perlite, and this is my first time getting leggy seedlings.
Now i do have a new lite, and trying not to scorch them, i think i had it on too low. I started with a PAR of 160(day1), then upped it to 200(day3), now its at 260(day6). What do you start yours at ???
View attachment 2572065

The lite is a new MedicGrow Venus 2x4 using the “B” side of my GLC-1 controller

200-300 for seedlings is where I try to land for the first week or 2 depending on how quickly they get that 3rd node then bump it up from there

Ninjadogma · Dec 2, 2025

RGWD0202 said:
200-300 for seedlings is where I try to land for the first week or 2 depending on how quickly they get that 3rd node then bump it up from there

And keep a little USB fan blowing near your seedlings too, it does several things including some stimulation to strengthen the stems.

A NewPhase · Dec 2, 2025

Thanx everyone They are at Par/230 Dli/15 and Watts/83 and holding steady.

LoveGrowingIt · Dec 2, 2025

It's best not to use clear containers. The roots expect to be in the dark.

When transplanting them, the long stem can be put in soil, and it will form roots. I bury it to slightly below the cotyledons (when I remember to do it).

A NewPhase · Dec 2, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
Edit: You were asking about the starting ppfd. mine pop outside, so.... 1500 ppfd? Maybe as high as 2000?

I often think about those unshaded seedlings outside getting full sun im sure if my LED’s could put out that amount these little girls would just wilt

A NewPhase · Dec 2, 2025

LoveGrowingIt said:
It's best not to use clear containers. The roots expect to be in the dark.

Great advice, i cut out some solo cups to shade those little roots.

This is the first time i used plain HappyFrog soil, worm castings, and perlite, no nutes. When i up pot i’ll be adding GaiaGreen 444…

Ninjadogma · Dec 2, 2025

A NewPhase said:
I often think about those unshaded seedlings outside getting full sun im sure if my LED’s could put out that amount these little girls would just wilt

Well I can't do it mid July. They can handle the light, not the heat. I presume you could probably duplicate this indoors with high power lights placed a significant distance away and I presume it has something to do with how certain radiation affects the plants at short distances that doesn't accompany the light at further distances, and one of those for obvious example is IR heat.

Ninjadogma · Dec 2, 2025

A NewPhase said:
Great advice, i cut out some solo cups to shade those little roots.
View attachment 2572380

This is the first time i used plain HappyFrog soil, worm castings, and perlite, no nutes. When i up pot i’ll be adding GaiaGreen 444…

I love seeing fresh perlite in dirt. It reminds me of snow before the huskies get to it...

ForestSpirit · Dec 2, 2025

Ninjadogma said:
Well I can't do it mid July. They can handle the light, not the heat. I presume you could probably duplicate this indoors with high power lights placed a significant distance away and I presume it has something to do with how certain radiation affects the plants at short distances that doesn't accompany the light at further distances, and one of those for obvious example is IR heat.

This is a question whose answer depends on how you look at the problem.
Of course, we need to look at it from the perspective of efficiency. Efficiency means less water and energy consumption.

A NewPhase · Dec 2, 2025

ForestSpirit said:
This is a question whose answer depends on how you look at the problem.
Of course, we need to look at it from the perspective of efficiency. Efficiency means less water and energy consumption.

Im not following ? Which happens often, ask me about phantom power Lol, and combination inputs….

Leggy seedlings ? LED’s too dim ?

Leggy seedlings ? LED’s too dim ?

A NewPhase

Phyto

JIMKSI64

Ninjadogma

RGWD0202

Ninjadogma

A NewPhase

LoveGrowingIt

A NewPhase

A NewPhase

Ninjadogma

Ninjadogma

ForestSpirit

A NewPhase

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