Starting Seeds Indoors

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

Hello Gardeners

I want to start my own seeds this year.
I have one big problem though, I don't have enough sunlight in my house.

The only solution to this seems to be using lights of some sort.
Can anyone recommend some good lights?

My primary criteria would be that they produce big, happy, healthy plants.
Secondary criteria would be cost, availability and energy efficiency, in that order.

Any and all help is appreciated.

CFG

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

I've found the least expensive way of providing sufficient light for seedlings is to put grow light bulbs in 4 foot shop fixtures.

Specifically, what kind of grow lights are you using?

[csvd87]

try this site for some hints

[url]https://www.waynesthisandthat.com/transplants.htm[/url]

[pharmerphil]

The flourescent tubes are labeled "grow lights" and I buy them at a local hardware store. I think they are also available at big box DYI stores. They have the full spectrum of light, and when turned on look much different (more "warm" and pinker) than the cool white light from regular flourescent lights.

We start over 1000 bedding plants each spring.
Using 4 ft. shop light fixtures, and 4100K soft white sylvania bulbs...
You do not need to fork out the extra money for "grow lights"

I have before, see little difference...except price.
we purchase the above bulbs by the case, for under 15 bux

We set out and sell healthy vigorous plants every spring

[rainbowgardener]

Agree with phil: if all you want is healthy starts to transplant, regular fluorescent tubes are just fine, you don't need grow lights. I start about 500 plants under lights in my basement (no natural light at all) each winter, using 4' shop light fixtures and regular fluorescent tubes.

But you do want your lights just a few inches above your seedlings (on chains so that they can be raised when the plants grow) and on for 16 hrs a day.

Unless your seed starting area stays at least 70 degrees night and day, your warm weather crop seeds (e.g. tomatoes, peppers, anything in the squash family) will benefit from a heating pad under it to help them germinate. I use a regular drugstore heating pad. It's only for germinating; once they have true leaves, they don't need it any more.

[Halfway]

I have found the T8 48" 6500K bulbs to be the most effective.

Normally $2 each and on sale for $1.50. I buy the Sylvania brand in 2 packs.

Switch out each spring if you use them year round to give the starts the most available light.

[garden5]

You can do a forum search for keywords like "seed starting" and "growing light indoor" and come up with several discussions on it.

However, they would all be to the same tone of this thread. Go with a 4 ft. shoplight, and some 6500K bulbs. It would also be a good idea to get an outlet timer to keep the light on 16 hrs. a day. The whole set-up should be maybe $20.

You will also want to make sure you keep the light just above the tops of the seedlings. You want to use the fluorescent lights because they stay cool and won't burn your plants like regular incandescent bulbs will.

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

Thanks for all the help so far.

One thing I don't understand,
What makes a 6500k light better than say, a 3000k light?

[soil]

go to home depot or a similar store.

buy a 4 ft shop light with a blue spectrum bulb and a red spectrum bulb. the bulbs will clearly be labeled. and use the chain method as mentioned above to move the lights up as the plants grow.

it will cost you about 15-20$ total

if you need more light space, simply make another one.

[The Mad Hatter]

On these shop lights, how many are you hanging over one row of flats? Is one light ok, or do you need to put two oder the flats? I plan on putting my flats on shelves then suspending the lights from the bottom side of the shelf above with chains.

I plan on using just one light now, but what happens after I get the sprouted and moved to larger pots? I am talking tomato plants and pepper plants. Would you then need to have two four foot lights over each shelf?

[farmerlon]

You do not need to fork out the extra money for "grow lights"

I agree with that.
I usually grab a 2-pack of Sylvania 48" tubes (at Lowes)... the package I get is labeled Full Spectrum, but not priced like "grow lights".
Those have worked perfectly for me, for starting seeds/transplants indoors.

My local Lowes also sells the 48" white Shop Light fixtures for about $10.00, with the chains included, and a 3-prong cord already attached and ready to plug in.

[Halfway]

Thanks for all the help so far.

One thing I don't understand,
What makes a 6500k light better than say, a 3000k light?

This can be a very compicated subject as I have gone down the rabbit hole many times, LOL.

The basic takeaway is that the 6500k spectrum is more conducive to plants in the vegetative stage of growth. This is known as the blue spectrum. It stand to reason that this is ideal for starts and crops like lettuce and some herbs.

For flowering and fruit production, more red spectrum lighting is needed. If too much red or too little blue is used for starts, they will become leggy.

[applestar]

I like the ones labeled "daylight" bulbs better. I think those are the full spectrums and not warm or cool. I don't think they're 6500's.

Whether they're better for the plants or not, or whether they can be simulated with warm/cool combo, they make ME feel better!
(Oh, and my seedlings grow just fine )

[jal_ut]

I too have used the "Daylight" tubes. I did have some natural light from a south facing window, but that in itself is not enough. I left the lights on 24/7. Hang the fixture on chains so it can be adjusted for height. It is best to have the tubes 4 inches above your plants. You can grow some nice robust plants like this.

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

If anyone has pictures of their seed-starting setups, I'd love to see them.
Might give me some ideas for building my own.

[The Mad Hatter]

I can not believe the wealth on information on this site. Thanks for the light help. I will be chasing some down tomorrow, then installing them tomorrow as well.

I have all my tomato and pepper seeds ordered, need more pots, flats, and jiffy pellets.

[jal_ut]

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/seed_start.jpg[/img]

This is pretty simple. A table in front of a basement window, with a shop light hung on chains. The plants are growing in 9 oz. plastic cups with a hole punched in them for drainage. The cups are sitting in aluminum jelly roll pans that I got at the second hand store. These are for drip catchers.

[rainbowgardener]

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12209&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=90

this turned out to be a 9 page thread on seed starting. There's other pictures of the set up earlier in the season on pg's 1, 3, 4. The picture I'm referencing here is on p7, but you have to scroll down near the bottom of the page.

I like my set up because it is double decker... I have 16 feet of grow lights that takes up a foot print of 8' by 2' against a basement wall.

[Halfway]

If anyone has pictures of their seed-starting setups, I'd love to see them.
Might give me some ideas for building my own.

Here is a pic of a light setup I use for starts and hydroponic lettuce and herbs. The amount of light covers standard 72 plug starter trays sideways for maximum space utilization. The items used to link the lights together are simple tent poles from a surplus store. Dowels or re-rod would work just as well. The trick is to get the lights all horizontal and fixed to allow the raising of the unit by only one fixed point.

Since the lights need to be very close to the plants, I quickly tired of adjusting the chains up and down, so I bought a set of locking rope pulleys. Those were well worth the $20 bucks or so. Not sure of the brand name off the top of my head, but they can be found online through hydro dealers.

[url=https://img688.imageshack.us/I/1000713m.jpg/][img]https://img688.imageshack.us/img688/5103/1000713m.jpg[/img][/url]