Question
I am a beginner trying to learn the in's and out's of starting my garden inside from seed. I have built a growing box and using GE plant and aquarium lighting system have had very good success in getting my plants to germinate. I fear i have a problem the most aggressive growing plants like, squash and melons have a 4-5" stem before they begin to leaf out. The plants are starting to become top heavy and fall over becuase the stem cant support the foilage as it gets bigger. What am i doing wrong? My light bulbs are about 12" above the containers the veg's are growing in. I have not saw the problem in the peppers and tomatoes yet but fear there might be a problem coming

Answer
Hi Corey,
Thanx for your question.  I start a lot of veggies indoors and you're correct, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, seem to adapt well to indoor conditions.  Cucurbits (squash, melons, cucumbers, gourds and cucumbers) do not do well started indoors.  First of all, you must not disturb the roots or the plants will most likely die.  What I have done with these is start them in separate pots so I don't have to transplant.  I use paper pots that I make with a wooden device I bought on line or use peat pots.  The seeds have pretty good germination rates.  I start them no earlier than 1 month before all danger of frost has passed.  Start them indoors and then when the last frost has passed, move the seedlings outdoors to a shaded, protected area and keep them there for 10 days so they can adjust to the brightness, wind, humidity or lack of, outdoors.  After 10 days, plant the entire pot.  You might want to put some black plastic down on the soil about a month before to help warm it up.  Your cucurbits will grow faster if the soil is warm.  I hope this helps.
Tom