Re: [CH] Grow lights
Steve Nearman (UncleSteve@ushotstuff.com)
Sat, 31 Jan 2004 22:01:47 -0500
We set the trays on shelves and suspend two, four foot, two bulb
fluorescent shop lights, per shelf, just an inch above the dome. The
lights stay on 24 hours a day. After germination, plants may be left
under the fluorescent lights or moved to a greenhouse. To keep
seedlings from growing long, skinny and week stemmed, they need 10-12
hours of good direct light each day. Windowsill growing has a few
problems, generally not enough light in most settings and unless you
have triple glazed windows the area near a window is the coldest area
of the room, especially at night. The lack of light makes the
seedlings grow long (climbing to the light) and bend towards the
source (closer to the cold window), not an ideal environment for
producing sturdy plants. We set the trays under the lights on 12 hour
shifts. This allows you to double the number of trays and lengthen
the life span of the bulbs by not turning them off and on. Often we
set trays on top of the light fixtures to warm the soil instead of
using a heat pad for germination. We have used the "grow light" bulbs
and found there is no major difference in performance over using
regular fluorescent bulbs. A better use of your money is to buy more
light fixtures to get more light instead of the expensive "grow
lights" bulbs.
--
Enjoy the heat,
Uncle Steve
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