Giving The Seedlings Some Extra Light With CFL's

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Giving The Seedlings Some Extra Light With CFL's

by Rick
(from container-gardening-for-food.com)

Extra over-night lighting

We seem to have fallen back on the weather a bit and for the past few days it has been grey and overcast, which means the seedlings are not getting as much light as I would have wanted.

I decided to try to give then a bit of a boost. Each evening when the sun goes down, I bring them in and place them on my workshop bench where I just so happen to have a small compact fluorescent lamp attached to the underside of the overhead cupboards.

For the past two nights I have left the lamp running overnight above them, and I think it has made a difference.

Last night when I left the seedlings, the leaves seemed to be pointng upwards as if reaching for more light. This morning when I came down and checked on them , all their leaves were nicely open and they seemed to be enjoying and basking in the light!

I'm keen to know if anyone has any knowledge or opinions about whether I am doing any good/harm with this arrangement.

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Giving The Seedlings Some Extra Light With CFL's

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Nov 25, 2011
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Raising Sturdy Seedllings
by: Tender

Every seed starter�s big problem is raising plants that are leggy or spindly. Here are a few guidelines to prevent that:
1. Use bottom heat as soon as the seeds are planted. But remove bottom heat as soon as 75% of the seedlings are visible.
2. At this point provide bright light. A combination of daylight and cool light florescent bulbs hung 1 to 2 inches above the seedlings is best. Raise the lights as the plants grow. Connect a timer which turns the lights on at 5 AM and off at 9 PM. Regularity is important. All night lighting will contribute to leggyness.
3. Do not overwater. Too much water will encourage spindly growth.
4. Do not provide any fertilizer until the seedlings are transplanted outside. You do not want fast growth, you want sturdy growth.
5. Provide a fan to keep the seedlings agitated. This will promote stocky growth.
6. If you add � cup white vinegar per gallon of water, black damp or damping off will not be a problem. Use only vinegar water until the seedlings are out of danger, about 3 inches tall.
7. After transplanting outside provide shade for the first two days and water with � cup Miracle Grow per gallon of water. Good luck.

Apr 12, 2010
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Extra light
by: Andrew Pullen

Adding extra light is a great way to speed up the growth rate.
Energy saver CFL's are the way to go and even better if you can run them off a renewable source of power such as a solar PV array (deep cycle battery and inverter) or use the 12volt d.c type as used in car inspection workshop lamps.

This is the way to go. Using a timer means being able to duplicate longer daylight hours of summer which fools the plant into increasing growth. The small amount of heat given off by the CFL's are also an added bonus for seed and seedling development.

Mar 22, 2010
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Extra light helps
by: Joe Wheeler

I believe using extra light helps, I did an experiment for the past 2 weeks, placed some brocolli, mustard cress, baby toms in trays on a shelf cabinet and had one of my filming lights shine down on it for a couple of hours here and there during the day and every seed I sowed has come to life and looks really healthy!

Mar 21, 2010
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yay!
by: Esmeralda

Well, that's very similar to what I'm doing with the fishtank to start seedlings, since I don't have a sunny patio or window space to start babies. It's worked beautifully so far, so if someone tells you it's terrible for them- I'd say you should take that with a grain of salt. I've only been at it for a month or so, but everything I've been keeping under the lights has been remarkably healthy. Just watch them and make sure they don't get too "spindly". I haven't had that trouble yet, but I imagine it could be an issue one might run into. But yeah- I'm doing toms and peppers under lights to start, and they look grand.

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Giving The Seedlings Some Extra Light With CFL's

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Giving The Seedlings Some Extra Light With CFL's