Beginner Gardening: Lighting and hot pepper seedlings, 1 by lhaddix

lhaddix wrote:
Hi,
It's expensive, but I've been having good luck with a 400W metal halide system at about 24".
I get about 30000 lux drectly under it and 10000 or so 3ft off axis . I have it covering a 4' x 4' area.
The lamp, ballast etc was about $250. The growth chamber is to metal sheving units from Lowes
for about $70.00 each. I've got an upper shelf that will hold 8 10x20 flats under the halide and a lower
shelf for gernination and seedlings that also holds 8x10x20 flats under 6 dual T12x48" shoplights.

With flourescents the lamps need to be within inches of the seedlings or you get leggy seedlings.
I mix half gro-tubes (gro-lux) with half normal cool white tubes to save money and increase brightness.
I can get about 13000 lux this way, but only about 2" from the tubes.

If you go metal halide make sure the lamps is at least 18" away or the seedlings will become chlorotic (yellow)
because the light is actually too intense. I went to the metal halide so that once the plants begin to get taller I can
light all of their leaves, not just those within inches of the lamps. I like big transplants.

Also I've got a fans on an interval timer. I start hitting the plants with enough breeze to shake them for 5 mins per hour
at firstworking up to about 20 minutes per hour. This encourages the seedlings to grow more fibrous stems and keeps
the from needing as much hardening off. If you don't do this they will fall over the first time wind hits them.

To harden off get a bunch of furring strips and 2" x 2"'s at Lowes and make a "cage" enclosed on all sides, but the
North with 50% wooden strips and 50% open area. Put plants in this "shade house" for the first week or so before
transplanting. Bring them back in only if it's going to freeze.

I've posted a picture of the setup and this years transplants. Also if you like Reimer, go look at http://www.rainbowchiliseeds.com/
this guy has some neat stuff.

Landrum