From CFL to LED

Jetstar · April 12, 2018

Okay 1st year growing tomatoes & peppers from seed I started out with a CFL 6500 kelvin & 1600 lumens worked great for germination stage as every tomato seed & over 95% of pepper seeds came up. The CFL provided some warmth that let me grow peppers without a heat mat. But about a week ago I re-potted my seedlings as the had all gotten true leaves I switched over to a Sylvania 100 watt equivalent kelvin & lumens as the CFL but without the heat. I did the switch at the urging of a friend who told me to also keep the LED about 4 or 5 inches from the seedlings vs the 2 to 3 that I used with the CFL light. Maybe its me but I think this guy was right, the seedlings have really had a growth spurt! So is it just what happens when plants are 5 weeks old or does the LED make that much of a difference in growth once they have trues leaves? Thanks or your opinions on this lighting question.

April 12, 2018	#1
Jetstar Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: N.E. Wisconsin Posts: 308	From CFL to LED Okay 1st year growing tomatoes & peppers from seed I started out with a CFL 6500 kelvin & 1600 lumens worked great for germination stage as every tomato seed & over 95% of pepper seeds came up. The CFL provided some warmth that let me grow peppers without a heat mat. But about a week ago I re-potted my seedlings as the had all gotten true leaves I switched over to a Sylvania 100 watt equivalent kelvin & lumens as the CFL but without the heat. I did the switch at the urging of a friend who told me to also keep the LED about 4 or 5 inches from the seedlings vs the 2 to 3 that I used with the CFL light. Maybe its me but I think this guy was right, the seedlings have really had a growth spurt! So is it just what happens when plants are 5 weeks old or does the LED make that much of a difference in growth once they have trues leaves? Thanks or your opinions on this lighting question.