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starting your plants under '' lights'' > share your experience,

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Chicken

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after the bad weather we have been having,,, and the in-ability for me to take the seedlings out daily,

ive decided to just take some extra flourescent housings i had, 4 footers,,,

and put them on a timer and just start them indoors,{in cases of good weather i will let them get some sunlight,,,} i mixed the tubes up... some are cool tubes{ for vegging} and some are WARM tubes for fruiting,,

tommorow im gonna get some chain and hang them up, so i can adjust them later, for i may start some of the veggies under here also,,

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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-02-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-02-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-02-14
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By chickenhawk435 at 2012-02-14

>>>> this year i chose to start them in VERMICULITE,,,,and i like it so much i may use this in many upcoming grows,,,,

.............................................................................

YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH USING LIGHTS ???
 

Daniel

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We got 4 inches of snow or more last night. First real snow we have gotten this year.
Nice trays you have there. I am waiting for more trays and inserts to arrive. We used Dixie Cups last year and it was a bit of a pain keeping them all setting level and flat when the trays got moved.
 

FmGrowit

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I don't use lights for starting seeds, but I can tell you the lights must be kept close to the seedlings or they will get leggy. Leggy baccy don't grow good.
 

deluxestogie

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Last year, I used 72-cell flats. They did okay, but I had the suspicion that they were feeling crowded. (I'm a plant whisperer.) So this year I'm going to 48-cell flats. As soon as each variety's seeds have sprouted a radicle, it will be moved to the 48-cell flat, one sprouting seed per cell. I have two small seedling heat mats to place under the seedling flats, so I can--at least for now--warm two flats at a time.

By the way, Johnny's Select Seeds has the small heat mats on sale for ~$25 each through February.

Bob
 

Chicken

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I don't use lights for starting seeds, but I can tell you the lights must be kept close to the seedlings or they will get leggy. Leggy baccy don't grow good.

true,

i got my lights damn near sitting on the trays...
 

dkh2

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The lights I just got say to keep the lights no higher than 3 inches above the top leaves.
That's why I built a light fixture so I could adjust the height for tomato's and pepper plants
But for Tobacco they really don't grow tall in the first 6 weeks.
I got one tomato though that survived the cat attack that has a real thick stem just like a store
bought so far.

PS: The cat almost was murdered in his sleep once I figured out what happened to the plants
 

Boboro

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Ive been starting and growing plants under lights for 25 years. Fluorescent shoud be as close as you can get them. they will burn tender leaves but thats better than leggey plants. Concreate blocks patio blocks and bricks are better than agusting chains.shelfing 1by 12s for a base. move your plants up. Not the lites down.
 

HaGGarD

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Chicken

I plan to start mine under about 6 23watt CFL's. I might use the old lava lamp to keep some heat in the wardrobe. I also started the herb garden, just waiting for GC to figure out those server issues to post it.
 

Daniel

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Here is a photo of how close a 4 foot florescent bulb is to my starts. The measurement if you can read it on the ruler is 2.5 inches. I have them even closer this year.
normal_Light_position.JPG
 

Chicken

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Chicken

I plan to start mine under about 6 23watt CFL's. I might use the old lava lamp to keep some heat in the wardrobe. I also started the herb garden, just waiting for GC to figure out those server issues to post it.

glad to see you here,,,,

and good luck on those seeds i sent you,,,

with a little patience you'll be sucessfull<
 

Daniel

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Bob, Just noticed your 48 cell comment. I used 44 dixie cups per 1020 tray last year. big pain and way to much wasted space. We ordered 48 cell inserts for the trays this year. As crowded as the plants get with 44 per tray I find it hard to imagine getting 72 of them in one.
 

BigBonner

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Imagine 252 , Some farmers use 288 , I use 200 cell the key is to mow the tops of the plants off to let air through . This also makes the stem bigger .Trimming does not hurt the plants in any way

When I plant , the setter dumps about one cup of water to each plant . There after they are watered by the next rain .If it is very hot weather the plants will lay down like they are dead during the hot day and raise up at night , after the third morning they will stand and stay up and grow . If the weather is not hot they will not lay down (Wilt ) .


Bob, Just noticed your 48 cell comment. I used 44 dixie cups per 1020 tray last year. big pain and way to much wasted space. We ordered 48 cell inserts for the trays this year. As crowded as the plants get with 44 per tray I find it hard to imagine getting 72 of them in one.
 

Daniel

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Larry, I am going to try the trimming trick with a couple of our trays this year. See if I can't keep them indoors for 6 weeks even in 48 cell trays. I am also counting on the slowing them down info you posted a while back if we run into a late freeze like we did last year.
 

jekylnz

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Are they the blue or red,,? Or both? Cause the blue will be better for wen your plants are little,
From my experience with led lights and others I know that use them indoors ,they work well
And are alot cheaper on power compared to h.p.s or h.i.d lamps,and way less heat to deal with
.they still produce good plants.they're quite pricey tho,did they cost much??
 

Lakota

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the lamps have 60 red and 20 blue lamps. The cost was 64 dollars canadian and the shipping was free. that was for the six bulbs.
 

jekylnz

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Are they the blue or red,,? Or both? Cause the blue will be better for wen your plants are little,
From my experience with led lights and others I know that use them indoors ,they work well
And are alot cheaper on power compared to h.p.s or h.i.d lamps,and way less heat to deal with
.they still produce good plants.they're quite pricey tho,did they cost much??
Apparently l.e.d use 65% less power than h.p.s lamps etc
 
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