Plant Lights

I need advice about growing under grow-lights. I have tried to start seedlings under lights and they only grow leggy and flop over. I place the lights 12" above the flat. Is there anything I can do different?

I would lower the lights--if they're more than a couple inches above the top of the seedlings then they will get leggy.

If you have full-spectrum gro-lights, the seedlings should do great. But as ectrane3 said, the lights should be kept only a couple of inches above the top of the seedlings. I raise mine up higher as the seedlings grow, using bricks. Also, keep the lights on for about 12 hours daily. It helps to keep the seedlings warm by using a heat mat, but that's not necessary if the room is warm. Also, keep the air moving around the seedlings by using a small fan. This will help you avoid damping off, a serious problem with starting seeds indoors.

When the outside temps allow (upper 50s - 60s), put your babies outside for a few hours each day to help harden them off. Work up to keeping them outside all day (probably will take a few weeks of gradually increasing their time outside) on warm days. When you are ready to plant them, they won't be shocked by the direct sunlight.

Raising vegetables and flowers from seed definitely saves $$$. And you don't have to plant a whole package of seeds. You can store extra seed in the freezer where many seeds will last for years (some like onion, will not though). I once found some bean seeds that I had kept dried in a box for over twenty years. Would you believe, most of then sprouted?!

Some seeds have unusual requirements, so read the package directions carefully, and don't start them too early before you are able to plant them outside.

Can you save the seeds that is in your fruits and vegetables and use them to germinate new plants? I saved three seeds from a cantaloupe I ate this summer.

yes!! I do that all the time!

Talk about a cheap way to get seeds! And that way you would know whether that particular variety actually tastes good! I am going to try this! You know. I may even buy an avocado just for the seed!

Place the lights (flourescent shops lights are all you need, no "special" lights needed) and inch or two above the seed flats. Raise as needed keeping an inch or 2 above the leaves.

I have a similar question about using compact fluorescent bulbs indoors. I use two large 1000W Metal Halide bulbs in the garage to feed a small army of plants, but I don't know as much about 'other' smaller grow lights. I'm looking for something that'll work for both our parrot room and any other room we have plants in that don't get enough light in the winter.

I know bc of my research with the MH bulbs that the K value is important, I typically stick with 5000-7500K bulbs (close to natural sunlight). So my real question is, what else matters? Does PAR (Photo synthetically Active Radiation) matter to any significant degree?

Most of the "bird light" bulbs we buy are 6500K and 18-20W, but that's all I know about them. I see several nice looking bulbs online:

http://www.bulborama.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=802

http://indoorsun.stores.yahoo.net/spiralite.html

Would those work for low light indoor plants and/or our bird lights? All this lighting stuff can get confusing.

Thanks,
-John

I use plain old fluorescent shop lights with standard fluorescent bulbs and they work just fine, no need to spend money on anything fancy or expensive, any additional benefit you might get from the fancier types will be fairly minimal and not worth the additional expense.

Those would require a new fixture though, I assume you're using the longer tube lights? I'll need CF bulbs for the rooms.

Yes, I'm using the tube ones but you can get fixtures very cheap at places like Lowes/Home Depot. I've never tried the CFL's but I think they'd work fine too, the only trouble is you'll need a lot more of them if you've got a bunch of plants because you need the lights to be close to the plants. That's the advantage of the tube ones, you can get a whole bunch of plants or seedlings underneath each one.

My idea might not work then, I'm looking to put them in the fixtures at the top of the ceiling and provide light to the room (I've done that in the bird room using the CF bird lights we have). My wife isn't going to let me get away with hanging long light fixtures in all the rooms, LOL.

With the halides I have to put them 4-6 feet above the plants or it'll burn them (learned the hard way with a few bananas and a Travelers Palm this year). Those are the grand daddy of all lights though if you need to grow a lot of plants (I can see why they are popular amongst 'alternative' growers). After two years of using them for six months indoors each winter, I'm convinced you can grow anything under those. Just wish they didn't use so much power, but they keep 200 plants alive and well in the garage through the winter - with a 10x20 grow area.

I guess it depends on what you're growing, plants that need a lot of light won't get enough that way and if you're starting seedlings they'll get leggy with lights that far away, but if you're growing things with lower light requirements then it doesn't matter as much.