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seeds Seedlings and Light

AlabamaJack

AlabamaJack

eXtreme
I promise I was not lazy when I posted this thread. I searched for "seedling light" and did not find the answer to my question.

I have read where seedlings do well under light 16 hours a day and 18 hours a day.

What about light 24 hours a day? Will that hurt them?

My seedlings are almost 4 inches tall now, have been under light 24/7 since I planted the seeds on 1 November, and are almost ready for transplant. They look very healthy.
 
I've never had any problems with 24 hours of light, except the extra expense but 16-18 hours is enough.
 
Well, I have decided on a little experiment. The germinator I built has 2 chambers exactly alike. I am going to split my crop of 9 seedlings and put half in each chamber. Of course then I will run lights in one chamber 24/7 and the other 16/8. Wonder what the results will be?
 
I transplanted to 6" pots today, bought a timer, but was too lazy to put install it. This response is really a test for showing pictures.

seedlings120407001aob1.jpg
 
my seedlings have done really well under x2 18w Grolux tubes - from seed to 12-14cm high in a total of 6-7 weeks (a heat pad was used to get them germinated)
 
Chiliman:

Believe it or not, I just looked at the kind of fluorescent lights I am using. I am using a standard 4' dual shop light fixture with two Phillips F40T12/CW Plus lamps. "Said that like I knew what I was talkin' about, huh?". To me they are just standard 4' white light fluorescent light bulbs.

Just measured my seedlings and they are 10-12cm tall in 5 weeks.

Looks like we are on the same growth curve but you are using less wattage for light than I am.
 
To me, wattage is important, especially if I want to light 100 square feet. The Grolux tubes don't seem to be something available in the US, at least nothing Google turned up. A 4' tube that uses 18 watts has to be cheaper than a CFL that uses 13 watts, right? At least concerning how many plants I can stick under it?
 
AlabamaJack said:
Chiliman:

Believe it or not, I just looked at the kind of fluorescent lights I am using. I am using a standard 4' dual shop light fixture with two Phillips F40T12/CW Plus lamps. "Said that like I knew what I was talkin' about, huh?". To me they are just standard 4' white light fluorescent light bulbs.

Just measured my seedlings and they are 10-12cm tall in 5 weeks.

Looks like we are on the same growth curve but you are using less wattage for light than I am.
Click to expand...

luckily fluoros don't cost much to run. I've got them attached to a cheap timer and I give them 16 hours light a day and water them daily with a spray mist bottle. I am now a jiffy pellet devotee!

wordwiz said:
To me, wattage is important, especially if I want to light 100 square feet. The Grolux tubes don't seem to be something available in the US, at least nothing Google turned up. A 4' tube that uses 18 watts has to be cheaper than a CFL that uses 13 watts, right? At least concerning how many plants I can stick under it?
Click to expand...

I don't really know if the 'grolux' part of the fluoro tubes makes any difference. basically I think they are just cool light low wattage tubes that cast a pinkish light. they may be just BS and a normal white tubes do the same job... all I know is that they have produced the goods for me so I dare not try anything else as I've got good results so far.
 
You really like jiffy pellets? I used them for many years but have found much better success using plastic cells with promix(or similar peat based mix.)
 
POTAWIE said:
You really like jiffy pellets? I used them for many years but have found much better success using plastic cells with promix(or similar peat based mix.)
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I use Jiffy pellets for some things, but not for peppers. I think they do better started in a larger container. They don't like having their roots disturbed that early on. Jiffy pellets are fine for lettuce, basil, petunias, even tomatoes; but not my peppers.
 
Would two 4 foot 2850 t12 lights work? As I have more plants I can buy more lights just for starters literally and figuratively. Just looking for a germination pad and lighting ideas.
 
LUCKYDOG said:
Would two 4 foot 2850 t12 lights work? As I have more plants I can buy more lights just for starters literally and figuratively. Just looking for a germination pad and lighting ideas.
Click to expand...

LD:

The F40T12 CW Plus lights I am using are used only for seedling growth. They seem to be working fine for me. BUT, I am NOT a lighting expert since this is my first try to grow from seed. Does the 2850 stand for Lumens? The bulbs I am using are 4100K color temperature and 2880 lumens after burn in.
 
Omri said:
Started using some 6500K 36W lights for the young seedlings.
As recommended before, 24/7. :D
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Omri, are there any benefits to 24/7 lighting because it seems like a lot of overkill and twice the bill? have you done any comparisons to say 12 on 12 off? I have only used the 12 on 12 off method and am a little curious.

Dale
 
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