Starting seeds in a cool place

I will be starting my melons/tomatoes/peppers in a cool place, either in an uninsulated upper story (where my bedroom is) or in our basement. It won't get down to freezing anymore in either place, and I plan of having some kind of heating mat under them, but are there any other problems you can foresee that I need to prepare for? Either place, I will have lighting over them, as there is not adequate natural light available. My dad has a dilapidated little greenhouse, but we haven't the time or funds to get it into shape this year except as a coldframe.

Thanks for any help, it will be appreciated! I've never tried to do this big a garden on my own before.

Cedar

I hear ya!

I put mine under lights in the basement, to keep them warm.

Once they sprout, if you see 50% or more, MOVE them to REAL light or halogen.

also, ask questions in forums for each one you are doing.

Thanks, Karrie.

I do have a question, though, 50% of what? Also, I don't have the option of moving them to natural light anytime soon, as our last frost date is May 31, and I will be starting seeds over the next couple of weeks.

Linnea: I am in zone 5. We can set out in the gardens around May 10.
I have always started my tomatoes and peppers around March 10. Any sooner for the tomatoes and they become too leggy.
The peppers could be started earlier or started with the tomatoes.
As for the melons they are really quick growing and should be started about a month before your last frost date.

Linnea: The seeds are going to have to be in a warm planting medium to properly germinate and grow. Most seeds like it warm below and cool above. Check the package to find out the optimum germination temp for your particular seeds.

As for lights, I posted this in an earlier thread: for foliage only (as in seedlings) you can get away with cool white fluorescent bulbs. Place them within an inch or two of the planting medium. If you are attempting to grow a flowering plant indoors, you can either use one cool white combined with one warm white, or you can upgrade to the plant/aquarium tubes which are more expensive, but seem to do a fantastic job. Whatever you decide, they need to be switched out once a year as they lose their efficacy over time. You can also buy incandescent plant bulbs, but they put out too much heat for seeds, in my opinion.

Hope this helps you :) Gretchen

edited to say: You can grow them under the fluorescent lights until they are ready to be moved outdoors. Be sure to harden them off before transplanting, though.

This message was edited Mar 1, 2004 6:41 AM

Linnea: When Karrie said 50 percent, she meant when you can see that half the seeds have sprouted into plants.
They will be fine under plain old fluorescent lights. I have used both plain and the plant lights and can't tell the difference. So why pay more for the plant lights.

Thank you Debby and Kaufman,
I am looking into the best way to create bottom heat for them, whether by buying a heat mat or using heat tape and making a sandtable... still in the designing phase on that. Thanks very much for the tips on the fluorescents. This will be strictly for starting seedlings, so I will just go with the cool whites. This should be interesting. I am using a lot of old seeds, so I'll be experimenting all the way around, from germination problems due to age, or temperature. Lovely.

Cedar

Enjoy -- it should be a fun experience for you :)