Grow Lights - Information
I posted a lot about this last year, but no one ever pays attetnion to me!
Ugghh.
ANYWAY....
I researched this A LOT over the last few years, and to REALLY sum it up
(which is hard to do for me!), usually the best setup is one COOL WHITE tube
and one WARM WHITE or "GRO LITE". Both 40 watts.
Some details....
Plants use both spectrum ranges of light for different purposes. The "cool"
or blue end of the spectrum stimulates stockiness.
The "warm" or red end of the spectrum stimulates linear growth.
I would say that if you had to lean towards one end, it is the cooler range,
so it is possible to grow perfectly healthy seedlings under only COOL WHITE
tubes. GRO LIGHTS contain more of the full spectrum. When you put it in next
to a COOL WHITE, you can easily see that the GRO LIGHT is red in comparison,
so it supplies some of the red spectrum that the other does not. Since we
want to lean towards the cool side to promote stockiness, I would say that
the ultimate setup is one 40W COOL WHITE and one 40W GRO LIGHT. Also it
saves money to only have to but one GRO LIGHT, and they ARE expensive in
comparison!
NEXT....make sure you only use a NEW COOL WHITE tube. Your eyes won't
notice, but the intensity of light diminishes after only 2-3 weeks of use.
TAKE OUT your old tubes and use them in your regular lighting fixtures, only
use NEW tubes for the plants. GRO LIGHTS can last somewhat longer, but make
sure you use a new one for each season.
ANOTHER TIP, is to only keep the plants in the MIDDLE of the tubes. The
intensity of light falls off near the ends of fluorescents and this can make
a dramatic difference in plants placed there compared to in the middle.
Don't place any plants under the last 6 inches of tubes at each end.
DISTANCE: First, plants should only be placed under the lights AFTER they
germinate and the folded seed leaves break the surface of the seed starter
mix). Before that, keep them in the dark at about 80-90 degrees F. After
they break the surface, get them under the lights and at a dropped temp
(about 70-75 degrees F for curcurbits, for most others it should be 65 or so
so they stay stocky). Keep the TOPS of the leaves about 1 to 2 inches (yes
1-2 INCHES) away from the surface of the tubes until they get the true
leaves, then keep them no more than 3 inches away. Most people place plants
WAY to far away, they literally should almost be touching the tubes, but
since AG seedlings grow SO fast, you can have them 2-3 inches away after the
first day or two. Keep a thermometer the same distance away right next to
the plants to moniter the temperature and make sure it doesn't get over 80
since they will grow too fast and get spindly.
HOW MUCH LIGHT: For some plants like tomatoes and peppers, they like about
15-16 hours of light a day. AG's could probably do with about 14. I use an
autmoatic timer. Make sure they get DARK at night too. It is almost as
impotant as light. At night, make sure that other room lights are blocked
off so that they are getting darkness.
Ad for the other basic info, keep away from direct drafts but make sure the
area is ventilated. AG seedlings suck up water fast so check them twice a
day. Use large peat pots (square ones save space) and seed starter mix.
Roots of AG's are sensive. Use a dilute water soluable fertilizer, and water
with room temperature ro slightly warm water. If you have one COOL WHITE
tube and one GRO LIGHT, rotate the plants every day so they get even amounts
of inensity of each spectrum range. Also when you buy the COOL WHITE
tubes....I have noticed that they have come up with some weird "DAYLIGHT"
tubes to replace COOL WHITE. I don't know if these have the same spectrum of
light as the COOL WHITE. I would say to just find a regular 40W COOL WHITE
that SAYS "COOL WHITE" on it, just to be sure.
Well, this is all the stuff I can think of right now on this subject off the
top of my head. If anyone wants to know anything else, just post and I'll
try to look some more info up for you if I don't know it. I have done a lot
of research on this.
-Steve
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