Keep us posted Sue.

I was quite pleased with my results when I first started using heat mats. For some seeds, e.g. Tropicals, they are almost a necessity.

What did you decide on the lights?

I am going to look at Fleet Farm and Menards to see what they have for fixtures and tubes. I am going to go with T8's. Also will be checking out the "cool" and "warm". Some here are saying one of each works well. I just don't understand yet if the T8's come in two varieties (a cool and a warm). Or if I need to look for something other than a T8 to get the cool and warm tubes.

I am not going to get the seeds going until late Jan. to early Feb. But I did do a little test to make sure the seeds I pollinated and harvested are even viable. I tested five seeds from Siloam Ury Winniford and they all pushed out a root.

Sue - AFAIK - in all 3 sizes all the popular bulbs are available - junk "shop" bulbs, cool, warm, Natural/full spectrum and grow.. Maybe not all locally at one place though.

My Menards has the least choices in fixtures or bulbs. Lowes the most. We used to have a dedicated Light Shop but it closed.

Yeah - I have used 1 cool and 1 warm in the past and still have some that work fine. I mostly use Natural now. Would like to use "grow" but am too cheap.

David - I agree .... those grow lights are very expensive. I did use them at first, but they also burned out a lot faster than the regular lights. I decided they were just too expensive to keep replacing.

I purchased the light fixtures (4) and bulbs (8). Here is what I got. Although this is probably going to be what I will use...I am totally open to ANY constructive criticism. Everything is still in the box, so if you convince me...I can take back and exchange.

Purchased at our local Menards. The fixtures were on sale for 14.99 each (retailed 17.98 hopefully will not turn out to be too cheap) and the bulbs were 9.97 for a set of two. Total bill was 105.33. I wanted to get a four bulb fixture; they had one (high output) that was 55.00, so I went with the two bulb fixture. I'll use two for each shelf to get the light coverage that I want. I know it will be twice the work when raising the fixtures as the seedlings grow, which bty, I need to get chains or something to rig up that operation. I already have a timer. From what I read @ ATP the lights should be on 14-16 hours a day. Heat mats are on their way. Metal shelf is still in the box. I'll post pictures when it's all set up and ready to go.

Oh!! I was just reading my own pic. I see the chains are included

Also I mentioned a 4-bulb fixture @ Menards for 55.00...looked at it on their site and IT IS JUST A TWO BULB fixture, just had a wider reflector on it.

You may need "S" hooks to hang the light fixture from the shelves.

I think this will give you a great start. Assuming your shelves are 4 feet wide, you can get 2 trays per shelf end to end or 4 trays side by side. If the shelves are 12 - 18 inches deep, a single 2 bulb fixture will do fine. With 4 lights on 4 shelves you can have 8 - 16 trays total. For 72 cell starter trays that is a lot of plants.

Wondering why you want to use 2 lights per shelf? The fixtures are fairly low to the trays and on my 4 ' shelves adjusted down, one provides quite adequate light.

You can drill holes thru shelves and install Eye or S hook screws. Then run chain or light rope down and attach with an S hook to the chain that comes with the fixtures. Adjust as needed. The chain comes in 15 & up foot rolls. Very small is fine cause you do not need much weight holding capacity. Just make sure to measure twice and cut them a hair longer than needed. Don't cut too short.

Which bulbs did you end up getting?

I do 12 on and 12 off myself on average.

You will also need a multiple outlet gizmo. Get one with as many outlets as you need plus 2 cause you will be adding stuff.

4 lights
heat mat
fan

That is 6 right there. I got a 10 outlet one and thought that was enough. Heh

Placement is key. Think it over. I mounted mine on the wall.

You may want to get a humififier as well. Not absolutely necessary, but I think it is impoortant.

Where are you setting this up? Basement?

My trays are 21" x 11"
Shelf is 48" x 18"
I guess I could put four trays per shelf. They would just have to hang over 1-1/2" at the front and back. Didn't think of that. I was going with two per shelf (on just two shelves). May have to get more heat mats now....hmmm...

My shelf unit has four shelves, but I wouldn't use the top one because lights would have to be put into the ceiling and I can't do that. They are wire shelves so I won't have to drill holes for the lights.

I thought I'd have to use two light fixtures per shelf because I read that the lights should be a few inches from the plants. I didn't think the light would reach to the outer edges if they were so close to the plants???? The fixtures are 48" long but just 2-3/4" wide.

Bulbs are T8, 32Watt, Daylight, 2850 Lumens.

Right now, I'll have 4 lights, 4 heat mats, 1 timer, 1 fan. Ya, that's 10 plugs already.

This will be set up in a heated porch. North windows so no direct sunlight.

An added issue I may have is figuring how to keep our cat away from the plants

Thanks for all that info Sue.

WRT trays per shelf. I usually only put 2 on end to end. There have been times when I had way more seed trays. Then I put them side to side with 4 per shelf. Regardless how many I have per shelf, I always rotate them periodically.

The reflector tops are only 2 3/4 wide? You can make a larger reflector. There is info out there on the net. I personally have never done so.

You truly are going in to this whole hog and giving it a lot of thought. I congratulate you. Spot on!!

sounds great, Sue!

I'm going for a slightly different setup myself.

As I plan to put my seedlings in my unheated garage I ordered a growth tent to put them in.
The tent is the CULTBOX TA120 Grow Tent, size = 3.6' x 3.6' x 6'
The inside is silver colored mylar, so all the light I put in it will be reflected


I'm thinking of making a shelf inside, so I'll have twice the floorspace x 3' high or is that not a good idea?
That way I would have enough space for 2x 50 pots of seedlings

Instead of going for 1x 400W lamp I will buy armatures that can fit 2 75W T-neon TLC 9500K lamps:



Now my newbie questions

- how many armatures (with 2 lamps in it) will I need per floorspace of 3.6' x 3.6' ?

I'm not sure how much heat the lamps will produce.. nor how cold the garage will get this Winter...
- what is the optimum temperature for my seedlings inside my tent?
I can insulate the outside of the tent if needed and will insulate the floor.
Or, if it might get too warm I can place a fan and open up the tent zipper

- Are heating mats a must? Or is that only usefull for germinating seeds?
- Will leaving the lamps on 24/7 be benefical or do plants really need their off-time?
- Will I need to water and feed the seedlings as if it is Summer and they are in the ground, or do they need less?

Are there things I have forgotten?


Ha, I'm really excited about all of this!

I plan to leave some seedlings on my porch to compare them with the seedlings that will be kept inside the tent

Mayo

Mayo, I'm so new to this too, so I'm leaving your questions to the more experienced. The one thing I can comment on is your question about leaving the lamps on 24/7. From what I've seen in forms here at ATP, you should give them a rest from the lights. I'm taking David's advise and will go with 12 on and 12 off. Being that yours are in a cold garage, perhaps a couple more hours "on" would help with the heating too.

Actually, I have the same question about the heat mats. How long are they needed? Is there a point of growth when it is best to remove them?

[quote="DavidLMO"]

The reflector tops are only 2 3/4 wide? You can make a larger reflector. There is info out there on the net. I personally have never done so.

I just took one out of the box. I stated that wrong. The depth is 2-3/4", the reflector is 6" wide. Still seems too narrow for an 18" shelf when the light is that close to the plants. I'm sure I'll be able to make the decision once I get everything set up. Probably won't get at that until after Christmas.

Okay, I have a non-seed starting question. I just tried using the "Quote" function in the previous post and didn't get it right. How do you do that...you know...when the comments from another is in a white box and then you can make a comment below the white box????

@Petruske Your message here if you insert spaces above the brackets (see below)

petruske said:Okay, I have a non-seed starting question. I just tried using the "Quote" function in the previous post and didn't get it right. How do you do that...{Here's how}...when the comments from another is in a white box and then you can make a comment below the white box????

When you click on the quote for a new message, it puts the whole quote in a box and in brackets [ ] in the 'post a reply' part. Within those brackets you can cut or delete any part of the quote you don't want to use or you can leave it as is. Your message is typed outside of the brackets, either above by using the space bar to give room or after. Does this help? I had trouble with this also for a long time.

petruske said:Okay, I have a non-seed starting question. I just tried using the "Quote" function in the previous post and didn't get it right. How do you do that...you know...when the comments from another is in a white box and then you can make a comment below the white box????

This is all I am typing. I could delete some or all your quote.

And you can copy the quote/unquote.

quote="petruske"]Okay, I have a non-seed starting question.[/quote]

petruske said:
I just took one out of the box. I stated that wrong. The depth is 2-3/4", the reflector is 6" wide. Still seems too narrow for an 18" shelf when the light is that close to the plants. I'm sure I'll be able to make the decision once I get everything set up.

Put one in the center and test it out

Mayo62 said:
I'm thinking of making a shelf inside, so I'll have twice the floorspace x 3' high or is that not a good idea?

Great idea. Otherwise you will waste a LOT of space. I would put in a multi tier shelf. Of course lighting will be an issue.

Mayo62 said:

- how many armatures (with 2 lamps in it) will I need per floorspace of 3.6' x 3.6' ?

I am not familiar with that light - as I suggested above, I would put some shelving in there - the 6 ' of vertical space is a waste. My hunch is 2 will be needed.

Mayo62 said:
I'm not sure how much heat the lamps will produce.. nor how cold the garage will get this Winter...
- what is the optimum temperature for my seedlings inside my tent?

I shoot for 62 - 72 F in my grow area in general. Tropical seeds at the upper level. You have no idea how cold it will get in there?

Mayo62 said:
I can insulate the outside of the tent if needed and will insulate the floor.
Or, if it might get too warm I can place a fan and open up the tent zipper

Sounds good.

Mayo62 said:
- Are heating mats a must? Or is that only usefull for germinating seeds?

Heat mats help to germinate seeds and I usually keep them on til plant has 2 sets of true leaves. For tropical seeds they are pretty much a must. They are mostly used for germintion. For Tropicals I leave then on for much longer.

Mayo62 said:
- Will leaving the lamps on 24/7 be benefical or do plants really need their off-time?

Leaving them on 24 hrs would be disbeneficial. How many hours of sunlight do you have in summer?

I usually run mine 12 on/12 off. Sometimes a bit more. Hardly ever less. Some people run them far more. It is a matter of personal preference.

Mayo62 said:
- Will I need to water and feed the seedlings as if it is Summer and they are in the ground, or do they need less?

You do not feed until they are 3 inches or more tall. Never feed seeds. You will need to water less than outside and not over do it. Over watering kills more than under watering. It can also lead to damping off.

Mayo62 said:Are there things I have forgotten?

Yes.

Mayo62 said:
Are there things I have forgotten?

DavidLMO said:
Yes.

I'm sure of that myself too!

Thank you for your answers!
I have clearly never done this before and appreciate all help and info

Mayo

Mayo62 said:
- Will leaving the lamps on 24/7 be benefical or do plants really need their off-time?

Some people do grow daylily seedlings under 24/7 lighting, which suggests they are not one of the plants (such as tomato and pepper) that are physically damaged by continuous light. How beneficial, or not, it might be I don't know as I've never done it. It may increase growth because of longer light for photosynthesis but it may not. I don't know if anyone has done a comparison for daylilies.