Germinating/ Lighting Questions.....

Lighting:

I've upgraded the 32W,T8 bulbs in my 4', 4 bulb fixtures.......... From 3500K to 6500K daylight bulbs....... Is 6500K adequate for indoor grow lights? Will I see a difference in growth with the brighter bulb?


Germination:

At what point, following germination, should seedlings be removed from the heat mat & placed under lights? I've been told to remove them at the first sign of germination, so the heat doesn't kill them...... Does this mean I should remove them with only a few seeds germinated or wait until a majority of the seeds have germinated? Germination is pretty much going to stop once they come off the heat mats & go under lights....

Lights - You will notice a difference with the full spectrum "daylight" bulbs. They perform well for me. The light fixtures are hung on chains that allow them to be moved up/down as needed to keep the fixture 2-4" above plant tops.

Germination - I place my seed trays on heat mats equipped with a thermostat to control bottom heat, with clear dome covers in place to retain soil moisture, WITH lights 2-3" above flats, left on for 16 hours per day. If too much moisture accumulates on the inside of the dome cover I just wipe it off with paper towels. Once most of the seeds begin to break the soil surface I remove the dome covers. The heat mat temperature is set at the optimum germination temperature for the plants I'm growing then reduced or turned off as needed.

I use my setup for raising transplants which takes about 6-8 weeks.

I would remove the humidity dome after 5% to 10% of seedlings have emerged. I worry about damping off.

I would remove the heat mat soon after, thinking that most seedlings would rather be cool than warm.

ALWAYS when I start in "six-packs" (tear-able inserts), and USUALLY when I start in plug trays, I tear them or cut them so that I can start all-one-kind-of-seed in each cut section. Then I can remove each section when it starts to emerge.

For example, a 128-cell plug tray has 16 rows of 8 cells each. I cut them into 4 "slices", each with 4 rows of 8 cells each. Then I usually plant all one variety in each of the 32 cells of a section.

The common 72-cell tray of inserts has 2 six-packs. I tear those into sections that each have one or two rows of six-packs (two or 4 six-packs per section = 12 or 24 cells per section).

When I'm re-using six-packs from last year or from a nursery's throw-out bin, I use Gorilla Tape and tape them together into sections of 2 or 4 six-packs, just to keep things organized.

I label these sections with mini-blind slats cut in half the thin way. Those support plastic film off the soil surface, when I run out of humidity domes. Plastic film makes it easy to keep a few six-packs humid while the rest dry out to prevent damping off.

Thanks folks for taking the time to post!

Ditto for me Garden_Sass on the lighting....... except I've taken it one step further.... Because I start my seeds in my large heated shop, I had to construct a "germination chamber" for a more controlled (confined) environment.. otherwise my digital therm no workie.... I'll post some pics of my "germination chamber" constructed of styrofoam & 1/2" plastic water pipe... Red Green would be envious!

This message was edited Feb 24, 2015 2:04 PM

Pics..........

I would get some light over your heat mat unless you are sprouting something that requires both surface sow AND darkness. It will work better for stuff that has slow & irregular germination.
And when you decide to take off the dome or humidity cover, I would definately take them off the heat mat at the same time. Heat mats really dehydrate the soil without a cover.

Sorry pollengarden I failed to show a pic of a 4' fixture (with one 6500K bulb) that is used inside my germinator ....

I removed the covers from the flats yesterday & was contemplating taking them off the heat mats..... Guess I'll put them under lights tomorrow.....

Not sure you can see these taken from my lousy cell, but I hope they are ready to go under lights..

Looks like they are either germinated or close to it.