Indoor lighting - what do you use?

[su_ju]

I live in Oregon and we can have lots of overcast days at this time of year. I've started my tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos indoors and they just sprouted. Last year, they didn't get enough sun at this stage (due to my lack of knowledge) and sprouted up long and thin and fell over. (We were able to grow them up enough to put out in the garden though) My son, who was taking biology at the time, informed me it was due to a lack of sun and gave me the scientific reasoning behind this . (I love when they teach me cool things!) Anyway....... I'm trying to avoid that this year.

Will the simple fluorescent bulbs (the ones that replace regular bulbs) provide anything close to what the plants need? It's output is only 800 lumens, 13 watts. From the rest of the posts, all I can gather is that this is probably not nearly enough light. I do have the plants in a sunny window, but that doesn't help much when the sun is hiding, does it?

[smokensqueal]

su_ju, That's a good question. I was thinking the same thing. Tomorrow it's going to be 70 but coudy outside and I was wondering if they plants would get more from being outside then under the fake lights.

[JustPeachy]

Alex is a great person to answer this. He is all about getting the plants outside and into natural light ASAP to harden them off. I don't know if it is too early for your seedlings, but I'm sure someone can answer that for me and you.

As far as it being an overcast day.... the sun will still manage to get some of those precious rays through. If you do put them outside for a few hours I would just keep a check on them.

[BrianSkilton]

su_ju, That's a good question. I was thinking the same thing. Tomorrow it's going to be 70 but coudy outside and I was wondering if they plants would get more from being outside then under the fake lights.

From what I have noticed, plants grow and look overall more healthy when in contact with the sun light. I have a few plants on my window sill and they have grown stronger and healthy with natural sunlight then the fluorescent shop lights. I believe some people use cold frames, which allows sunlight in, and keeps the plants warm (I think you usually use cold frames for colder weather then 70 though)

[applestar]

If you do put them outside, it's a good idea to keep them off the ground. The air temp might be 70 but the ground might still be 40~50 etc. and draft blowing over that could quickly chill your seedlings. A check with a thermometer might help.

A cold frame is typically shielded on all 4 sides (solid or clear/translucent), as well as have the vented clear/translucent top, and the soil inside it has been warmed for a while before use. There are a variety of innovative temporary cold frame ideas available on the net with a quick search. I'm thinking of making something like that soon.

I think the natural day/night fluctuation in the temp also helps to grow sturdy transplants, and I like to mist the inside ones with water first thing in the morning to simulate dew.

[bali]

Hey lotza nice growing ideas here.

I put mine under a Grow lite from Lowes .. They are warm and nifty ..

No photo.

[Timlin]

For the last 25 years I've grown thousands of seeds each spring. I do have a greenhouse that I open about this time of year for 5 or 6 hours a day and extend that as the weather warms. When my plants are not in the greenhouse (and before I had the greenhouse) I have them under 2 shop lights. Each shop light has two 4 foot long florescent bulbs which I replace with new each spring even if they are still good. They do lose a lot of glow power in a season.

I find that with keeping them in a cool room, near a window and under the shop lights they grow strong and solid. Under 'grow lights' there is too much heat and mine grow tall and thin.......'grow lights' are necessary if you want a plant to blossom but our seedlings are far from blossoming and only need the regular florescent (cheapie) lights.

[bali]

Thanks for the hints.....

Maybe why my orchid grows so good on the cold window sill out on the north side..

Makes sense to me..

b

[thepassionatecook]

T5's are the best lights for the money and they can multi-task, handling both vegetative and bloom stages for delicate herbs or complex fruit-bearing plants as long as you use two different spectrum bulbs. T5's are better and stronger than T12's.

Avoid standard shop light fluorescents, CFL's, incandescents, and especially LED's! If you're growing a ton of flowering or fruit bearing plants indoors, and can get your hands on a High Pressure Sodium unit, then that would be your best bet. Be warned, they will cost you about $350.

For T5's, look for a unit that will hold 2, four foot bulbs. Currently, 92 lumens per watt at 54 watts per bulb is the best offered. This will cost about $150.