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Re: Starting seeds indooors.

Denny Hurley wrote:
>Hello all Veggie growers.
>As I am new to your list and do not know what may have gone before, please forgive me if my question is rhetoric for you :-(
>For the past 2 years i have tried starting several flats of both flower and veggie seeds indoors under florescent lights.
>The seeds usually have germinated well, but then become very stagnant in their growth, some only growing as much as 2-3 inches in 2 months.
>Does anyone else have much experience starting their plants under
>light?
>Any help would be much appreciated, lest I should give up on the
>pre-season plant starting, leaving that up to others with nice green houses.
>Denny

To Denny,

I,ve been growing transplants under lights with pretty good success for
quite a few years.  Everybody seems to have worked out their own methods
but they all appear to be similar.  Our climate is pretty mild and I
grow mine in a detached, unheated garage.  I use inexpensive  4-foot
shop lights with 2 40 watt flourescent tubes.  I've tried the gro-lights
and wide-spectrum lights and have observed no discernable difference
over the 99 cent tubes.  The lights should be replaced each year because
of the decrease in light intensity as the lamp ages.  Recently, the 4
foot tube wattage has dropped to 35 watts - I haven't had to try tried
the lower wattage tubes yet but it seems reasonable that a 12.5 per cent
reduction in wattage will radiate less heat.

The lights are suspended on chains such that the plants are as close as
possible to the plants without actually touching the plant.  With
fast-growing plants like tomatoes it may be necessary to adjust the
lamps daily.  I wrap the entire shelf system - lamps, plants and shelves
- in a white bed sheet.  This helps retain heat, reflects light, allows
air circulation to prevent molds, fungi and damping off,  and
discourages flying insects.  The lights are left on for 18 hours each
day and off for 6 hours at night to create total darkness.  The
temperature as read with a min-max thermometer varies from the low 50s
when the lights are off to low-mid 70s when the lights are on.

Depending the the growth rate and ambient humidity, the plants need to
be watered several times per week.  I use a weak solution of
water-soluble fertilizer at each watering.  When the foliage spreads out
past the width of the pot, the plants are set out (if appropriate) or
transplanted to a larger pot.

This isn't really as complex as it sounds - if the lights are on a timer
it may only be necessary to check on them every other day.  I usually
have several hundred plants at various stages of growth between
Thanksgiving Day and March 1 when direct seeding during the cool winter
months is often unsuccessful.  Because of our mild winters, it is often
possible to set the larger 6-inch and 1 gallon plants out in full sun
during the daytime.

Olin Miller <millero@worldnet.att.net>
USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 13
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