Grow Lights?

I went to be last night alittle down because once again the plants that I started inside died when I took them out. I have been forced to try and get them outside as early in their lives as possible because I don't have any grow lights to put them under and I have nowhere in my house that gets good enough natural light to put them.

Well this morning I woke up and had an epiphany. "I have a shop light on my workbench in the basement not getting use!!!" DUH!!!!!!! So this morning I took an entire flat of tomato and pepper plants downstairs and low and behold there is a brilliant light calling my name. I pulled it down off the celling plugged it into my timer switch set it up over my plants.

Right now the plants are only an inch or so tall so I have it fairly close (less than a foot) away from them. How far should it be? Obviously as they grow it will need to get further way or they will be in it but for now with as small as they are how close is to close? Also how many hours should it be on them a day? I have it set for 12-14 right now.

Good remembering. Shop lights are what a lot of us use. Lower those lights to within 1- 2" of the top of the plants. Timing is right. Good luck on keeping these alive until time to put outside. And don't forget to gradually harden them off before setting out.



Kay

That's right, the light should be only 1-2" above the plants to get the full benefit or they'll stretch too tall and get leggy and weak. Remember, these aren't sunshine, just a mild substitute. Also, they need the lights on approx 16 hrs a day. I put mine on at 7 a.m. and off at 11 p.m. every day.

when can the plants come out from the lights? Its still WAY to cold here to be outdoors for the real stuff, but what about window seals or them sunbeams the dogs chase around the house?

My plants stay under the lights til about a week before they get planted outside. A week or 2 before they are planning to go outdoors, I bring them outside for an hour in the shade, and increase the time the next day, putting them in the sun for an hour, on the 3rd day. When inside, they are under the light again because they are only out a few hours at most the first few days. Outdoor time is increased daily until in about 7-10 days they are out all the time. They don't get transplanted outside til they have been thru this hardening-off treatment to get used to the cold, the heat, the sun, the wind. If I'm expecting a very cold or stormy nite, I bring them inside for safety.



above: hardening off on the garden bench.

Thank you everyone the plants already look great even after a day under the lights. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner, dumb me.

Second question. I have a few weeks until I can plant my peppers and tomatoes outside. I started the seeds in peet pellets, at what point should it transplant them into MM?

The transplantation of the plants should be done at the time the plants
start giving fruit. Then only the plants should be transplanted to mm.

jakesebastin wrote:The transplantation of the plants should be done at the time the plants
start giving fruit. Then only the plants should be transplanted to mm.

I disagree jake. I transplanted my beans and peas when they were about 5-6 inches tall and my tomato and pepper plants were about the same size when I did those once the weather warmed up. I got about 10lbs of peas this year and have green beans coming out of my ears right now and probably will for the rest of the summer.

scmelik - I have to agree with you. I would not transplant when the plants are fruiting, as transplant shock would probably interrupt the fruiting, aside from the fact that if I tried to keep my seedlings alive inside until they are ready to fruit I would probably kill them all!

GG

Goosegirl wrote:scmelik - I have to agree with you. I would not transplant when the plants are fruiting, as transplant shock would probably interrupt the fruiting, aside from the fact that if I tried to keep my seedlings alive inside until they are ready to fruit I would probably kill them all!

GG

GG,

If I would have waited with my peas till they fruited I would have had to some how keep 6 foot plants inside and tried transplanting those. Not fun!!!!

scmelik wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:scmelik - I have to agree with you. I would not transplant when the plants are fruiting, as transplant shock would probably interrupt the fruiting, aside from the fact that if I tried to keep my seedlings alive inside until they are ready to fruit I would probably kill them all!

GG

GG,

If I would have waited with my peas till they fruited I would have had to some how keep 6 foot plants inside and tried transplanting those. Not fun!!!!

I hear ya! I am so bad with my seedlings and starts that I have to put them out as soon as possible because the harsh reality of SD Spring is much more gentle than my 'tender loving care' inside under the lights! My tomatoes went out as soon as the temps were above freezing at night, even tho' tomatoes do not like 40's at night. They were about to die inside, but outside without my attention they have thrived and are strong and healthy! I have pinched off blossoms to let them get bigger, but as of today I have stopped that and they are on their own!

GG

Goosegirl wrote:

scmelik wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:scmelik - I have to agree with you. I would not transplant when the plants are fruiting, as transplant shock would probably interrupt the fruiting, aside from the fact that if I tried to keep my seedlings alive inside until they are ready to fruit I would probably kill them all!

GG

GG,

If I would have waited with my peas till they fruited I would have had to some how keep 6 foot plants inside and tried transplanting those. Not fun!!!!

I hear ya! I am so bad with my seedlings and starts that I have to put them out as soon as possible because the harsh reality of SD Spring is much more gentle than my 'tender loving care' inside under the lights! My tomatoes went out as soon as the temps were above freezing at night, even tho' tomatoes do not like 40's at night. They were about to die inside, but outside without my attention they have thrived and are strong and healthy! I have pinched off blossoms to let them get bigger, but as of today I have stopped that and they are on their own!

GG

wth my tomatos just got blossoms within the last two days. I planned on pinching off the first of them but they showed up so late that I don't dare now.

scmelik wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:

scmelik wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:scmelik - I have to agree with you. I would not transplant when the plants are fruiting, as transplant shock would probably interrupt the fruiting, aside from the fact that if I tried to keep my seedlings alive inside until they are ready to fruit I would probably kill them all!

GG

GG,

If I would have waited with my peas till they fruited I would have had to some how keep 6 foot plants inside and tried transplanting those. Not fun!!!!

I hear ya! I am so bad with my seedlings and starts that I have to put them out as soon as possible because the harsh reality of SD Spring is much more gentle than my 'tender loving care' inside under the lights! My tomatoes went out as soon as the temps were above freezing at night, even tho' tomatoes do not like 40's at night. They were about to die inside, but outside without my attention they have thrived and are strong and healthy! I have pinched off blossoms to let them get bigger, but as of today I have stopped that and they are on their own!

GG

wth my tomatos just got blossoms within the last two days. I planned on pinching off the first of them but they showed up so late that I don't dare now.

Mine have been putting out blossoms for over 2 weeks now. Since I usually don't get them in the ground until the first week of June and they don't find the trellis until almost the end of July, I figure this is a good time to let them go. I was able to get them in the ground the second weekend in May, and some of them are about 2 feet tall now. Definitely ahead of the SD schedule, so I will see what happens.....

GG