Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I use a rolling table with the lamps on chains. Two 4' flourescents with a grow bulb (pinkish) and a daylight (bluish) bulb in each. Figured that would give me the best spectrum of light and I can adjust the height. I'm going to mix the Jiffy w/ Miracle-Gro, JohnnySeeds are on their way.
The 4" pots are small thin plastic ones I will use, pack of 100 was cheap on Amazon and I have little plastic tags for labeling. I plan on moving the plants to these pots when they get a little larger before going outside for hardening. Start with an hour or so a day in the warmth when I am home as the temps increase.
I actually lowered my variety this year to stick to getting better quality/higher yield in my plants. I may also pickup a cheap fan from what I am reading and your review. Will a cheap soil moisture meter work?
I use a rolling table with the lamps on chains. Two 4' flourescents with a grow bulb (pinkish) and a daylight (bluish) bulb in each. Figured that would give me the best spectrum of light and I can adjust the height. I'm going to mix the Jiffy w/ Miracle-Gro, JohnnySeeds are on their way.
The 4" pots are small thin plastic ones I will use, pack of 100 was cheap on Amazon and I have little plastic tags for labeling. I plan on moving the plants to these pots when they get a little larger before going outside for hardening. Start with an hour or so a day in the warmth when I am home as the temps increase.
I actually lowered my variety this year to stick to getting better quality/higher yield in my plants. I may also pickup a cheap fan from what I am reading and your review. Will a cheap soil moisture meter work?
Awesome. I'm sure you know that you need to put the light literally an inch away from the seedlings but be careful they don't burn. I never liked the light right on top of them so I leave a little gap for breathing. Any sign of stress and I raise the light up more.
Also I always forget the thing with the Hues, Lumens and wattages so I looked it up again.
" Colors above 5000K are known as cool colors (blue) and closely resemble natural sunlight. Colors below 3,000K are known an warm colors (red). The spectrum of light is important to horticulture because each spectrum triggers different responses from the plants—blue light induces vegetative growth, red light induces flowering. This in turn plays into which type of lighting rig you'll use and when—some types specialize in certain parts of the spectrum while others can span multiple wavelengths."
I say just use the blue hue because you don't want your plants flowering too early inside. I'd rather get them to focus on growth, then flowers. That's just my opinion.
So swap out the grow bulbs for another set of the daylight 5k's? Intersting and may make a difference as my first season I used just the grow bulbs on one lamp and they did not do as well as last year with the mix.
My biggest concern is leggy plants. Every year it seems they just reach for the heavens and fall over before getting their true leaves and some bulk to the stems. So I'm going to use the 4" transplant pots to give them room and do the fan as well. I'm curious is fertilizer is needed, seems some people add in diluted food for new plants.
My biggest concern is leggy plants. Every year it seems they just reach for the heavens and fall over before getting their true leaves .
Gotta keep the light right on them. Post a picture so we see what you're doing. No reason they should be leggy. You should start Youtubing some videos to see what others do for success . Posts are pointless IMO. Videos are worth it to get a visual
So swap out the grow bulbs for another set of the daylight 5k's? Intersting and may make a difference as my first season I used just the grow bulbs on one lamp and they did not do as well as last year with the mix.
My biggest concern is leggy plants. Every year it seems they just reach for the heavens and fall over before getting their true leaves and some bulk to the stems. So I'm going to use the 4" transplant pots to give them room and do the fan as well. I'm curious is fertilizer is needed, seems some people add in diluted food for new plants.
sorry if I missed it but how many hours/day are you running your lights and do you have them on a timer?
Currently I run them 16 hours but have heard that upwards of 20-22 hours can be better. I usually do run the lamps very close to the tops about 6" above, I end up with the lamp about 1.5-2' above the plants as they grow which may be too much. I've looked through a lot of youtube videos and use the farmers almanac garden planner for research. It seems people really fall into their own techniques and my biggest concern is finding specific growing tips and views for my area 6a in CT.
Currently I run them 16 hours but have heard that upwards of 20-22 hours can be better. I usually do run the lamps very close to the tops about 6" above, I end up with the lamp about 1.5-2' above the plants as they grow which may be too much. I've looked through a lot of youtube videos and use the farmers almanac garden planner for research. It seems people really fall into their own techniques and my biggest concern is finding specific growing tips and views for my area 6a in CT.
keep them a maximum of 3" above your plants, even closer would be better...the florescent bulbs really don't get very hot and won't harm the plants if they touch them. Make sure that you have a convenient means of raising your fixtures in small increments as some seedlings grow rapidly.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
