Did I do this right?

[GomoIsGardening]

[img]https://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a150/chipperknitter/transplantshelves.jpg[/img]

It's the first time I've tried using shop lights for my transplants. I don't know if I have them low enough on the seedlings.

Lights are 2x4 T8's, 2 per shelf.

The bottom shelf is tomatoes, shelf above peppers.

I'm using a space heater that ocillates on max for the heat, plus the ceiling fan for circulation.

I have heat lamps and aluminum foil if I need more stuff.

Thanks for any help.

[applestar]

I think that looks pretty good!

With the heat and fan, things might dry out quickly so watch out for that. Also with community set up like this, it's hard to water evenly if the floor/shelves are not level -- even the least bit and the water pools to one side of the tray or other. Also, there's an obvious shadow in the bottom right corner, but I'm sure you're aware of that.

All these issues can be alleviated by rotating and shuffling the trays around daily or frequently -- think cookies in the oven

Keep us updated! looking forward to seeing those babies start to grow!

[GomoIsGardening]

Also, there's an obvious shadow in the bottom right corner, but I'm sure you're aware of that.

Thank you Applestar, I thought something looked weird, but couldn't put my finger on it.

Went and checked, I didn't lock the tubes in the front fixture, no light. I also moved the space heater further away. I'm running the heat in the house due to the weather. Glad you pointed that out, most of my tomatoes are experiments this year and I don't want all the money spent on seed to go belly up.

Thank you again!

[gixxerific]

Must say I'm impressed you have one hell of a setup compared to my ghetto setup.

Only thing that really got my attention is that is a whole lot of plants. I have basically the same square footage for myself. I ended up with plants on top of my lighting by the end cause they were getting too big. So I basically doubled that space. But seeing as you are in Texas you will be able to get them out of the house faster than I could. Just remember all those tiny little seedlings will big huge plants one day.

Other than that I'm jealous I only have a few things going right now mainly to keep me occupied.

Looking forward to where this goes. Keep us updated please.

Dono

[wordwiz]

You can save some money and have better plants by turning the heater off. Fifty-five degrees is more than warm for seedlings. Germination - no. The soil temps needs to be 75-85, depending on the seeds. But once they sprout, it is a different story.

Mike

[rainbowgardener]

Agree with wordwiz. I have heating pads under my germination trays to sprout warm weather seeds. Once they have true leaves and are doing well they get moved off the pad. All of the rest of the trays are just in my semi-heated basement, with soil temps in high 50's or at most 60 degrees. They do fine that way. And that way I can keep using the heat pad to sprout more things.

[GomoIsGardening]

Thank you Wordwiz and Rainbow, didn't think about it.

First time starting seeds under lights. Always started them in the bathroom and moved to the living room when they were big enough.

I changed the heater to blow away from the flats and lowered the temp to 75.

I'll check out heating pads this weekend.

Thanks again. Great advice.

[GardenRN]

Looks great Gomo!

Don't worry, you'll be more disorganized and overcrowded like everyone else soon enough.

But seriously, very nice setup.

[soil]

if your temps are high enough you wont need the bottom heat. 75 is great.

[vermontkingdom]

Gosh, I'm jealous. The only thing I have growing at this point are various onions, leeks, cole plants, and head lettuce. I'm about one month away from planting pepper seeds and two months for tomatoes.

Your setup looks terrific. When are gardeners in your neck of the woods able to put pepper and tomato transplants in the ground?

[GomoIsGardening]

Gosh, I'm jealous. The only thing I have growing at this point are various onions, leeks, cole plants, and head lettuce. I'm about one month away from planting pepper seeds and two months for tomatoes.

Your setup looks terrific. When are gardeners in your neck of the woods able to put pepper and tomato transplants in the ground?

Thank you!

Middle of March is the general consensus. My neighbor who's lived here since 1938, says not until Easter. I shoot for late March.

I have to admit I'm a little jealous of northern gardens. You have longer days and temps are more reasonable.