New set-up for baby seeds

[arisachu]

My boyfriend made this for me to keep the kitties out. Hopefully it will work. :3 We spent about 2 hours trying to find that stupid grow lamp, as it was hidden on the bottom shelf next to the black lights at Lowes.

[rainbowgardener]

But you really didn't need the "stupid grow lamp." Regular shop light fixtures with regular fluorescent tubes work fine for starting seeds.

[hendi_alex]

It looks to me that the position of your light will give a problem when the plants emerge. Artificial light intensity drops off very quickly with distance, so the bulb should be directly over the plants and within 2-6 inches of the tops of the plants. Your set up will likely produce leggy, bent plants that are stretching toward the light.

[Marlingardener]

Both posters are right. However, trying to find a florescent fixture that is 24" long and will hang is difficult. I know, because we finally managed to find two this year after a long search! (Our shelving accomodates 24" max). Your grow light will last for years, and when the tube goes, you can replace it with a regular florescent tube (but by that time you'll have a greenhouse to accomodate your "hobby"!).
It seems your light is taped to the wall, so it can't be very heavy. Is there a shelf in your apartment that you could attach the light to the underside? Perhaps even a closet shelf and closing the closet door would take care of the curious kitties. Then you could simply use cardboard boxes or something else to lift the seedlings to within 3"-4" of the light. As they grow, you could lower the seedlings rather than raising the light.
You and your boyfriend are so determined and so inventive that you'll come up with something!

[arisachu]

Oh! The box said that we shouldn't put it closer than 1 ft, but I will try putting the seed trays on top of something to get them closer to the light. Only the brussels sprouts have sprouted up so far, so this will be fairly easy for now.
The fixture is actually seated on nails in the wall, but we taped the side since it was a bit wobbly and as extra precaution against four-legged plant foes.
As for closet space, when we moved in we shoved everything we didn't want to deal with (and that's A LOT of junk and boxes) into the two closets in the apartment so now they're all filled to the brim and daunting to go into.

I meant "stupid" grow lamp in a joking fashion, only that it was so frustrating to find since it was hiding. It was actually the cheapest of the lights of that nature that had plugs, the other ballasts that came empty had to be hard-wired, and the other plug-in ones with lights were more expensive for some reason. I'm also stubbornly going to find some reason to have it since we searched for it for so long.

[soil]

no offense but that's not going to be enough light, your plants will end up "stretched" as they grow for the weak light. even with moving it closer unless your able to put them outside quite often to get real sunlight. spend the 10-15$ on a shop light and some bulbs. when you spend 15$ on lights and seeds and get 100$+ worth of food in return its worth it. having stretched seedlings will give you weaker plants and in turn a lower harvest yield in the end.

[arisachu]

I found this chart when looking for how much light I would need
http://www.plantlighting.com/growing_area_table.htm
Is this about right? Should I add more lights, or find one that is way higher in wattage? I mean, these lights were built for this purpose, so it has to do something beneficial, right?

This is only for the germination. Will this still pose a problem? I know the brussels sprouts have already sprouted, so they might need a little more light than the others. The light seems to be pumping out a fair deal of light.

Marlingardener,
I may go with your closet idea and clean out the less messier one. That will have to be a spring break endeavor.

[hendi_alex]

Brussels sprouts should go straight to the garden at about any time. For sure put them out in the direct sunlight each day until ready to plant them in the garden. I direct seeded arugula, lettuce, and radishes. All are up and doing very well. The tender plants like tomatoes should also be placed outside during sunny days. That will help make sturdy, hardened plants from the beginning, with no need for hardening off before planting in the garden.

[arisachu]

Oh I'm glad you brought that up! I was wondering when to bring them outside and when I could put them in the ground.
Is it okay that it's still a bit chilly outside? I didn't want to put them outside while it was so cold, but if it's okay to do so, then I definitely want to do what's best for their growth. I'm very excited about the speed at which the Brussels sprouts are growing, the packet said 7-10 days of germination, but it's been about 4 days already and they are about an inch or so tall.
Each pot had about 2-3 seeds planted in them, should I pull out the weaker plants to give the strongest one more room to grow and develop?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Each pot had about 2-3 seeds planted in them, should I pull out the weaker plants to give the strongest one more room to grow and develop?

Well I'm showing my frugal side again. Don't waste the weak seedlings just prick and transplant into a 4" pot or so. You could always give them away or sell To answer your question, 1 seedling per pot.

Eric

[wordwiz]

Is this about right? Should I add more lights, or find one that is way higher in wattage? I mean, these lights were built for this purpose, so it has to do something beneficial, right?

No, it's not close to right, unfortunately. A 600 watt, 72,000 lumen MH bulb will decently light a 4x3 foot area. Even then, the seedlings on the edges will tend to bend toward the light. If you really want to learn about lighting, Google Daily Light Integral and Mols Per Day Plant Growth. It may sound technical at first but is really quite simple. How many lux (or footcandles) does a plant receive and for how many hours does it last.

Mike

[arisachu]

Well I'm showing my frugal side again. Don't waste the weak seedlings just prick and transplant into a 4" pot or so. You could always give them away or sell To answer your question, 1 seedling per pot.

Eric

Okay, thank you. I will try to get them out into new pots, though some are very close together, and I don't know if I'll have enough room in my mini-garden to plant upwards towards ten Brussels sprouts plants! What would you suggest is the best way to re-pot them? Are the roots not too weak to be moved right now?
Also, would you think that putting a few into a Tupperware and lightly covering would be able to make it on a 1 1/2 hour flight to Illinois? I would like to maybe give a few seedlings to my grandmother at the end of march for her birthday (she's very excited about my new-found garden love), providing they don't grow too large at that point. Of course, I would have to check the TSA rules to ensure that I can even take something like that through security in the first place. (Would the x-ray machine kill the plant?)

[arisachu]

No, it's not close to right, unfortunately. A 600 watt, 72,000 lumen MH bulb will decently light a 4x3 foot area. Even then, the seedlings on the edges will tend to bend toward the light. If you really want to learn about lighting, Google Daily Light Integral and Mols Per Day Plant Growth. It may sound technical at first but is really quite simple. How many lux (or footcandles) does a plant receive and for how many hours does it last.

Mike

Alrighty, thank you for your advice. I will look into this. I'm not that great with technical math and such, but I will take a few notes and ask my boyfriend to help me out with the technical things I don't get. For tonight they should be fine, nothing is too far grown to have suffered much (just the Brussels sprouts) and tomorrow if weather permits I will put them outside for a few hours for some decent sunlight or next to a window. Hopefully the grow lamp will be enough to catch any new buds I don't see coming until I can get them some proper rays.

Thank you everyone for helping me out. I greatly appreciate all the advice. My poor plants would suffer from my eager negligence without you all.
(When I find something I like doing I fixate and obsess haha)

[hendi_alex]

I'm in Camden, S.C. and have been placing my plants outside most every day for two or three weeks now. If the temperature hits over 60 degrees then the plants are out in the open, except maybe blocked from the wind. If the temperature is between 50-60 degrees, the plants are placed outside in cold frames. You may want to consider constructing a makeshift cold frame for this season and then maybe buy one for next season, if the garden bug takes over. I've been leaving my tender annuals outside in the cold frame overnight anytime that the lows stay 40 degrees or above.

[arisachu]

I'll have to see what I can rig up. I don't have too much money to spend on building one, but I do have a slight abundance of free time. It's been consistently 40-50 degrees lately, and I have no idea when it's going to let up, so it would be nice to be able to construct one of these since apparently the good ol' Georgia weather has decided to play tricks on me. (It was in the 60-70+ range not too long ago, go figure)