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Iowa

i will be starting seedling soon in my basement. last years seedling didnt do as well as i wished under a plain frouresent light. this year i plan on getting a bulb or fixture made for growing plants! an suggestions as to where i can purchase this? thanks

12/29/2003 11:13:39 PM

Greene County, Pa.

Home Depot has decent flouresent bulbs for 12$ a peice. They are called Grow Lux - Full spectrum plant and aqurium bulbs, they work pretty good. Also you can get a 150 watt HPS from there for about 90$.
BuddyG

12/30/2003 6:37:28 AM

Indiana

I always did better with the "Designer" soft white and warm white, one of each, they put off more lumens. I think the amount of light is more important than the spectrum.
Steve

12/30/2003 7:16:34 AM

Montoursville, PA

The heavy hitters I am around use lights hardly at all. They use 8 inch pots or half gallon ice cream boxes as pots.
Emergence is a fact in between four and seven days. First true leaf is peeking between seven and ten days. The seedling goes into the patch right at first sight of true leaf or very shortly thereafter. The only place a little light support may be needed is between emergence and first true leaf peeking. That is a matter of only two to four days. I get adequate light from a Southeast window. If it legs out a tiny bit I plant it a tiny bit deeper.

I showed an inexpensive lighting arrangement in my diary because some folks may not have a good window exposure.

12/30/2003 9:34:25 AM

Norton, MA

You are starting your seeds soon? Anyway I use a 120 watt 5" diameter grow bulb and a heating pad in a styrofoam box.

12/30/2003 9:34:48 AM

Webster, NY

docgipe, are the 8 inch pots peat pots?

12/30/2003 9:39:39 AM

Montoursville, PA

Only 8' peat I know still around are a few here and there in private greenhouses or hiding in older sheds and barns. That leads us to ice cream containers as an easy find. One catalog listed 6" this year. That's not large enough in my opinion. Need that space to avoid crowding stress.

12/30/2003 4:56:53 PM

GatewaytoH...

We have even larger than the 8" peat pots here at home depot.

12/30/2003 5:03:07 PM

Iowa

these lights will be for starting onions....BIG onions! they must be started sometime in jan. they will be growing in my basement for a few months before they are able to be planted outside!

12/30/2003 9:08:37 PM

Leitholm, Coldstream, Scotland

Now,s the time to get them sown Marc, I have used ordinary polythene shopping bags in the past, Half filling them and rolling the sides down until ready to move out. Just cut down the side and pull the bag out when you plant them and put the bag in the re-cycling. They are usually plenty strong enough but you can always double up if you think they are a bit heavy. This is the way I started my pumpkins last year, but with your onions, they want putting into bags/pots when they form the 2nd leaf.
Alec

12/31/2003 2:27:53 PM

Oz

>What is the longest a AG main root will get?
>i have had good luck with high pressure sodium
side door lights
and a parking hps.
>silver metal halide lamps are good also.
>i had them on a timer so they would go on and off to cool
the plants.
at noon i would have all the lights on.
>i have not tried this on AGs.
>i also have used a ultrasonic humidifier to keep the sun room damp enough.(soda water is soooo cool(danger)).
this works well for orchids...
old waterbed heaters are a good find. they can be timed to go on and also have a variable temp setting

12/31/2003 5:18:55 PM

mcminnville oregon

YOU DONT NEED GROW LIGHTS FOR PUMPKINS!!!! ITS MORE IMPORTANT TO GET THEM INTO GROUNND TO AVOID SHOCK!!!! OF COURSE YOULL NEED A COLD FRAME!!! i MAY USE A SHOP LIGHT TO RAISE HEAT DURINNG NIGHT!!!!

1/6/2004 9:16:20 PM

petey...how close were the plants to the lights....they should be at least a few inches away from the light, but not more than a foot or so away, especially when small (so they don't get leggy).

1/6/2004 10:47:57 PM

Walkerton Ont

have one white bulb and one florecent(grow light) in your light

1/7/2004 2:21:15 PM

Kenyon, Mn.

You need to check out an article on light spectrum, too long ago for me to remember the facts, I read a article that was written by the man who had done the pumpkin/stage coach sequence for Cinderella, he had a deadline for his vine to set fruit and he was getting no flowers to set,by chance, his bulbs burnt out and he purchased different bulbs(cool white) I believe and he had blooms in one week, now if it were HID lights I could tell you you need High pressure sodium for flowering.

1/7/2004 11:40:00 PM

New Jersey

Well... you got a lot of advice and eventually it has led in the right direction.

If you want to garden indoors for a few months you will acheive much better results with HID (High intensity discharge) lamps. The most appropriate kinds being Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium. Metal Halide are the same type seen in football stadiums with it's nice clear blue light, HPS are the ones you often see in parking lots and other areas with that nasty looking orange light.

You will get better results for your application using the Metal Halide. As the previous poster stated, HPS would be better for flowering. This has to do with the spectrum of the bulbs and what type of light your plant is expecting during different stages of growth. Either one will work, I just think MH is more appropriate.

Have a peek at www.overgrow.com and see what they do with lighting indoors. ;)

2/22/2004 12:27:49 PM

Deer Park WA

Petey, we grow large onions (Ailsae, Walla Walla) too. We use two 2 bulb flourescents with 1 cool white and one grow lux bulb in each. Suspend the lights about 4 inches above the seedlings and they stay nice and warm.

2/22/2004 12:45:54 PM