What has caused my spindly plants?

This is my first year of sowing seeds. I'm generally very pleased with how I've done. I've had one lot of damping off which I've now figured out thanks to the topic in this forum, the rest have done well. Except for one other problem which has afflicted most plants - spindly main stems. Can anyone see where I've gone wrong?

I used seed compost & perlite mixed 2:1 or 3:1 and topped with vermiculite where required. I have used clean pots at all stages. I spray misted to keep them damp, but generally they've been on the dryer side rather than overwet. (I now know to water from below due to the Damping Off topic).

When true leaves appeared on all of a particular seed I pricked out and potted on. At this point some have stayed in the greenhouse and some have moved to the lean-to depending on the instructions on heat/light after germination. The lean-to is cooler but still not fully exposed, it has air circulation from around the edges of the gate and where the roof doesn't quite reach the wall).

Before planting out the good plants, I looked at the roots, which have usually been plentiful and furry (which I assume is good?) and the leaves have looked good.

My problem has been that these young plants have been very spindly - on a lot of the plants the main stem is weak and not straight at the bottom. What might have caused this?

Here's a couple of thoughts -
-Not being brave enough to select only a few to grow on. Instead I've had trays of seedlings, meaning that some have had to go on the lower shelves of the staging, and I've tried to rotate to compensate for less light.
-The staging in the lean-to has not been in direct sunlight, but it is light in there.
-I've been planting up into multipurpose compost, now I'm using the recommended J.Innes which gives more drainage. I used this for the Chilli's and they all look sturdy.
-Not hardening off early enough - have I kept them inside for too long? I can't remember how long, but I have been waiting for roots to reach the edge of the 3" stubby pot, then putting then outside for 1 week before planting. To be honest, they're spindly before this hardening off stage.

Any help received with thanks.

 

Hi OogieBoogie, sounds like a light problem to me. The stems are long and spindly because the plants think that they are underneath a leaf canopy and have to grow tall to get to the light.

Except for shade-loving plants, they will need some direct light in order to grow properly, especially things like chillies.

Everything else you are doing seems fine, good luck with them all

 

Thanks Blackthorn. Next year I will know better !

 

to stop damping off in future i would buy some chestnut compound. type it into google and it is around the five pound mark.

it just dissolves in water.

 

Yes Oogie, I would agree with the others about not enough light. Its always a problem, when you start seeds early. Some times, if the seed was on top of the compost, not all of the root is properly under the compost. This gives a weak spot at the base.

In both cases a solution is to repot burying the seedling much deeper.

 

That old "chestnut" again. :D