@Dinosaur They look good considering. Marge is stretched out, looking for light. I’d lower your light to be as close as you can get without the heat scorching them. You can always mound up a little soil around her stem and she’ll just develop roots in the area you bury. That’ll help the lean and the stretch.
The light is probably gonna be insufficient for much beyond getting your seedlings successfully ready to transplant into a bigger pot, but it should be okay for a little while longer. Is it an actual 100 watt draw? or a “100 watt equivalent” light (I think those Range from 30 to 60 actual watts)
Anyway, Penny is going to be a little more nutrient starved than Marge, it’s the nature of having lost one of her cotyledons- they’re the little cushions of nutes that the seedling will use to grow big and strong while the roots develop. Her nutrients are accidentally halved without the other cotyledon. Just keep an eye on her, it may be time for supplemental nutrients for her sooner than Marge.
@Graysin I thought Marge is leaning away from the light which is weird. I lowered it quite a bit. That makes sense with Penny losing that leaf. Idk much about the light bulb. What this picture says is all I know.
Someone here told me to grow them indoors for the first month before I transplant outside because it’s so late in the season. The light was also recommended for just the first month and with my zero budget.
I also don’t have any special nutrients to give them. I have access to regular vegetable garden fertilizer but that’s it. Seems like everyone online has the budget to buy special food for them so I’m having trouble finding ideas on how to make my own with food waste or something.
There are a lot of things around the house that can help but it’s more temporary in nature than a lot of what folks around here use - distilled white vinegar or citric acid (stuff for canning usually) are good ways to lower PH. Diatomaceous earth is a good natural pest repellant (for when your babies go outside) and is used for most gardening anyhow.
I don’t think weed plants are as picky as we make them out to be - garden fertilizer will be fine as long as you make sure it’s not too dense for your soil or way too off balance in terms of what your plant needs for the stage of life it’s in. Blood meal, bone meal, tomato fertilizers, and the like can all be used, but probably having some perlite or other medium on hand to counterbalance the density of those garden ferts will help you avoid accidentally smothering or drowning your root structure. I’ve got a bag of blood meal but I don’t use it much, it’s so dense it easily compacts around roots and murders plants.
I’d check against a basic feed schedule that is transparent about what’s in it for the growing stages- Jack’s 321 feeding schedule is easy to discern because each nutrient has a ratio (ie part B is 15-0-0) of NPK so you can add fertilizer in similar ratios and test as you go to find what will work. Save your money for when you truly can’t get something out of your average products.
Also pure Epsom salts are a good source of magnesium.
For around the house nutrients I use banana peels, egg shells and coffee grounds. I dry/grid and use in my soil (slow release). Search this site and the internet. I know there is a way to make a “tea” from the banana peels and another recipe for the eggshells so the nutrients are more readily available.
When I have more time I’ll see if I can find any other information that might help you.
I have access to regular vegetable garden fertilizer but that’s it. Seems like everyone online has the budget to buy special food for them so I’m having trouble finding ideas on how to make my own with food waste or something.