Re: Too hot for seedlings? Leggyness from heat.

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Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

 We have been starting our seeds indoors for over 30 years. Have lived in the Midwest, Southeast and West coast. Started them in basements, spare rooms and currently in our living room. The temps have varied all over, from the 50's to 70's.

 Can't say we had problems related to temps. Have had damping off - solved by vermiculite on top of the planting mix and always water from the bottom. We have always tried to keep the fluorescent bulbs as close to the plants as practical. Put books or something under some of the containers if necessary.

 The other thing is we put them outside for short periods of time as soon as practical after they have been transplanted to the reused 6 pack from the starting flat. My wife will say it is the daily gentle hand brushing she gives them that keeps them from getting leggy! Don't think there is any absolute way to do it, but this has worked for us. Don't be afraid to experiment, SqFt'ing is a continuous journey.

 

Bob in Sacramento

-----Original Message-----
From: Souliere <s*@iname.com>
To: SQFT List <s*@listbot.com>
Date: Saturday, March 04, 2000 01:42 PM
Subject: Too hot for seedlings? Leggyness from heat.

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html


From: Don & Cheryl Sommardahl
> >Ron, I had problems with leggy plants last year when I started from seed.
> I had a good seed starting set up with correct bulbs, etc. but  one
problem
> I had was the heat build up in the room when the lights were all on. I did
> use the fan. I would like to hand some mylar around the racks to reflect
> light but know that would trap in even more heat. My temps get up around
72
> as is. What do you advise?

I am sorry, I don't have any direct experience with too much heat,
my basement is cool year round.  If anything, I find any increased
heat seems to help.  I have used heating wire (buryable cable
for heating the soil) in a tray of sand under my starts an it seems
to help.  I don't seem to have the original pamplet for the wire
but I seem to recall it heated to 72-75 degrees.  However my
basement ambiant air temperatures are probably around 60-65F.

This is something though I will need to come up to speed on
this year.  It is currently 70 degrees here and I was starting
to put in some hoops in to convert my raised beds to a mini
greenhouse.  My last frost date is still 2 months away and I was
hoping to start seeds inside then move the transplants (still
in trays) to the mini greenhouse.  I am also concerned about
too much heat during the day under the plastic.  Lows at night
are still in the mid 20's but with this much sunlight it could
get very warm under the plastic.

Anybody else have any direct experience here?
How hot do green houses get?
What I would really like is one magic number.
Don't let it get hotter than X.  I doubt there is a
single good number X for everthing, but I would
appreciate any feedback.
Ron Souliere


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