Seed Started Lighting
 

This is how I am going to start tomato seeds this year. It is really simple to build/make. I cut a 4' x 21" sheet of 3/4" plywood with one rounded end in case I bump into it. It is sitting on a 4' tall chest of drawers inside our house - where it's nice and warm. And a folded white sheet on top of the plywood. The sheet is there in case I spill water. I was also thinking that the white sheet might reflect a little light too.

There are three 4' long T8 light fixtures hung at 7 inches apart (Sold cheap at big box stores). They are attached with the short chain they came with and then nylon string up to the hooks that I screwed into two 1' x 4''s that are screwed into one ceiling joist.

This is where I'll start the seeds in containers shown in the picture, and also where they will be after potting up into Solo cups. The containers are empty now and placed to show the versatility of what you could do. (The yellow stripes and spots are my camera acting up - it's all freshly painted white.)

That will work nicely

Looks nice.

Worth

Perfect ... you are all set to give them a good start. Just give thought as to where all of those started plants will go after 4-6 weeks !!

I hope the weather warms up quickly for you guys, I saw the latest cold snap on the news ... not typical for your area for sure !!

I have a similar setup. I put aluminum foil around the sides to reflect light back onto the plants.

Nan

I would advise putting a sheet of plastic between the cloth sheet & the plywood.

Perhaps the 3 fixtures are too much but, on the plus side, you shouldn't have to turn the trays at all.

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;678949]I have a similar setup. I put aluminum foil around the sides to reflect light back onto the plants.

Nan[/QUOTE]

Excellent idea!

Nan, I thought of the aluminum foil. I would be very interested in knowing your results. I wish I could compare them to the white theme I'm going with. The lights are two soft white lights each in fixtures 1 and 3 and two natural lights in the middle light fixture. The natural lights are warmer - you can feel it easily, but they're not hot.

I am curious if the natural lights would be better to start pepper seeds with? However, after pepper seeds have sprouted - they don't require as much light and water as tomato plants do. This is from my experience with pepper plants, and I'm sure others will disagree with my findings. Any other ideas and/or facts are very welcome.

nyrfan, I'm not sure about too much light? I have given it some thought over the time I've been here at Tomatoville. Each year is an experiment for me combining things I learn along the way. There are so many posts that others have made about their way of doing things - that I didn't ask why. I should have.

I give as much light as I can as long as the seedlings are not overheated. LED lights seem to be the future as they give little heat. Fans driven with a thermostat can help to limit the temperature under the lights.

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;678949]I have a similar setup. I put aluminum foil around the sides to reflect light back onto the plants.

Nan[/QUOTE]



If you have a larger area to cover, try Mylar foil emergency blankets. They typically only cost a couple of bucks, will cover a large area, and can be re-used year-to-year. I have a couple taped to the sides and back of the shelf unit I use for seedlings. They also hold in any little bit of heat the lights put out which is good because my basement can get a bit too chilly sometimes.

Salt your set up looks great. I'm glad to see you're back at it this year!

I use a similar setup on a wire rack. 3 lights works perfect b/c you don't need to turn and it keeps the plants stocky. Adding a small clip fan will also help with making the plants strong and stocky.

I use flat white or as close as I can get for reflectors back into the growing area.

But the most important thing is you use reflectors back into the growing area not whether it is foil of some sort or white.

[QUOTE=Worth1;679018]flat white[/QUOTE]

[B][FONT=Garamond][SIZE=3]Same here - flat or matte white.[/SIZE][/FONT][/B]

Looks good.

I'm currently growing tomatoes under my lights. They are doing spectacularly well. I have (5) 4' LED lights, two bulbs each, plus the aluminum foil, plus table is white. The lights never get hot. (BTW, it's REALLY hard to get "too much light" indoors for tomatoes.)
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[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;678949]I have a similar setup. I put aluminum foil around the sides to reflect light back onto the plants.

Nan[/QUOTE]

that is a great idea but an even more efficient one are the heat reflecting mylar blankets for emergencies. they are cheap and cover a large area. get them in the automotive section at walmart or there abouts... emergency preparedness area/ camping or whatever. but I used them to wrap around my plant stand fixtures to reflect the light back to the trays.

The blanket idea is good! I bought one after reading about it here and have stapled it to the shelving I will use out in the cool area.

seed starting setups
 

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Here is my humble setup- I have some peppers, tomatoes, a few flowers from saved seeds, chives, cutting celery and some test carrot tape that I made. There are 3 heat mats- I found some 24" LED tube lights at WalMart for only $9.99 and have 6 of them attached under shelves with zip tabs. It is working pretty well so far-in my guest room!
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Your set up looks terrific. Thanks for posting. You taught me something new ( thank you) Now a question for those in the know -the shelves or tables under my lights should be white? That's for reflecting back to the plants? If my shelves are against a wall ( laundry room) would it be good to tape foil to cover the backs of all the shelves as well? My lights are LED so I don't worry about too much heat.

For me, I'm just trying the white shelf as an experiment. I don't know if it will make any difference at all.

white shelves
 

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I doubt if white shelves will affect anything either. I try not to have shelves against any walls because it cuts down on air circulation, and the seedlings need good air movement.[/FONT][/SIZE]

I agree. I keep a fan going in the room. I wish I could set it up more like yours, but I just don't have the room.

Light waves are lighter than air you might want to weigh them down some.:lol:

Worth

2-05-2018

I [STRIKE]sow[/STRIKE]...planted seeds on January 23. Some germinate and grow faster than others. That is the reason why I like the lighting setup that I use. It's also why I use the seed starting trays that I do now. The little trays only have 12 cells per tray and fit under one 4' fluorescent light fixture well.

In the pictures, you can see how differently they grow. Some could be potted up any day now, while the Riesentraube just came up yesterday. Just simply tie one end of the lighting higher than the other and all are happy using the same light fixture.

I will be buying MG potting mix and plastic drink cups to pot up the taller ones in a couple days. That's when I'll adjust the second of the three light fixtures - plug it in and use it for those in the plastic cups. I will add pictures then.

When I see the lenght of the stems I think more light would be welcome, with the same looming problem : how to add light without raising the temperature. Of course if you transplant the seedlings quickly and bury half the stem things will be improved. I'm happy when the stems of my seedlings are short, thick, dark green.

[QUOTE=loulac;681583]When I see the lenght of the stems I think more light would be welcome, with the same looming problem : how to add light without raising the temperature. Of course if you transplant the seedlings quickly and bury half the stem things will be improved. I'm happy when the stems of my seedlings are short, thick, dark green.[/QUOTE]

That is why I use concentrated 100 equivalent watt CFL lamps.
No long stems and I can raise the lights up even farther.
About 1200 watts of light in a 3 x 4 area.
100 watts per square foot.
But only using 324 watts drawing 2.7 amps.

Worth

Use LED lights. They can touch the plants with no harm.

Nan

Nan, Do you use 6500k in the led light? I'm guessing T5 bulbs?

Al

Al, I use these:
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-Utility-Shop-Light/dp/B01MUWR6DT?SubscriptionId=AKIAJSNNUHPJD2BBMSFA&tag=shoplights-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01MUWR6DT[/url]

Nan

Thanks Nan,
The reason I ask is the 6500k lights for led's seem more expensive and harder to find. For instance my local homedepot only carries as high as 4100 on the T5's.

It looks like the 4100k is cool light.

[IMG]http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server1000/6e060/product_images/uploaded_images/cfl-kelvin-colors-temperatures.png[/IMG]


Those lights do pretty well for you Nan?
Al