Seedlings Making Progress

If seed starting were a race, my Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes would be sprinting out of the starting gate.  The cherry tomatoes are a close second, with the sweet peppers slowly getting onto the straightaway.

Cherokee Purple Tomato Seedlings

Sweet Pepper Seedlings

I'm concerned that these Cherokee Purples are already too leggy, reaching too high for a little extra sunlight.  We started seeds using a mat for part of the tomatoes and peppers, but we did not purchase artificial lights to place above the seedlings.  I'm concerned that they're not getting enough hours of sunlight even in our South-facing window.

We've been watering faithfully for ten days now.  I place water in the trays under a couple of the flats, to provide mostly water to the root systems.  We also spritz the tender plants gently each day, trying to not let them get too wet or too dry.  One flat with the smallest cell sizes seems to stay waterlogged, and I'm concerned about the peppers we sowed in it.  I may move them into something else if I can't correct the moisture problem.

I'm thinking of mixing up a half-strength mixture of fish emulsion fertilizer for these babies.  But more importantly today, I'm aiming to get the mini-greenhouse up outside the house so they can start getting more rays in the daylight.  As an amateur, it seemed that the biggest mistake I made with last year's seed starting effort was not getting enough sunlight to the plants soon enough.  So, I hope I've learned enough to keep these seedlings going.

Here's a look at April garden chores from Sow True Seed...