lighting

[hedwarr]

After my seeds germinate, do i remove the plastic cover on my Jiffy tray or do i apply my lighting with the cover on? Thanks, ED

[nctomatoman]

I cover my flats loosely with Saran wrap. Once a good number of the cells has germinated seedlings, the cover comes off (if there are large blocks that have yet to germinate, I try to cover those. taking the cover off allows good air circulation (minimizes fungal growth - which can lead to damping off). Once the majority of the cells germinate, they go into my garage under shoplights (with no cover). Of course, once the cover comes off, you need to keep an eye for drying out.

[hedwarr]

Thanks Craig. I had posted a while back on GW that i was having a hard time germinating my seeds but this morning they are all pushing up! And thanks to Carolyn who might recall my post and her advice worked!. I was definately over watering. Thanks guys! ED

[Tomstrees]

I second what Craig says about Saran Wrap ~ Tom

[giardiniere]

Craig

What is the temperature in your garage? I'm in zone 6, and mine is probably somewhere in the upper 30s. It was very cold this weekend, and may have been a little cooler. Would that be too cold for the seedlings? I have my lights set up in the house, but I only have my eggplant growing so far.

[kevn357]

Originally Posted by giardiniere

Craig

What is the temperature in your garage? I'm in zone 6, and mine is probably somewhere in the upper 30s. It was very cold this weekend, and may have been a little cooler. Would that be too cold for the seedlings? I have my lights set up in the house, but I only have my eggplant growing so far.

I've read that a good temp for seedlings is 65-85.

My germination rate tripled with the ones that were on a heating pad on low around 85 degrees. My house temp has been around 63-70 the past 4 weeks. The ones on the heating pad also germinated within 4 days while the others took around 9-11 days with a poor ratio.

[Tomstrees]

hedwarr -

did you get started ?

~ Tom