Propagation: Please critique my diy grow light set-up, 1 by

wrote:
Hi Greener Beaner:
I will try to give you some insight on growing under lights from years of experience in doing so.

ABOUT LIGHTS
All fluorescents are not the same. Grow lights are made up of wavelengths within the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, green, and yellow of the spectrum that are suitable for plant growth that incandescent bulbs don't have. Plant lights are made to resemble full sun very closely and contain the wavelength in colors that plants need to grow. I don't want to get too technical so the above info is a short explanation.
The watt is usually related to the length of the fluorescent bulb. A 48" long tube will produce more light than a 24" one. The only information you need about a fluorescent light tube is that it is a grow light in whatever length you want.

You actually need 2 grow tubes placed side by side with 2-3" from each other in whatever lengths you choose. The reason is that there is a light fall off along the sides of the lights that is not strong enough to support plant growth. The strongest light is in the center. Place your sun loving varieties there and shade lovers more on the outer side. You can increase light at the edges by placing a large, white paper mat or board held up along the edges to reflect the fall off light back on to the plants.

HOW CLOSE? HERE IS A GUIDE:
This guide is suitable for plant lights, not for incandescent light. Measured from the top leaf.
Annuals, perennials, herbs, and vegetables---3-6" from the light
Geraniums---4-6"
Begonias---6-8"
Cactus and succulents---3-6"
Impatiense---5-7"
Observe your plants, if not enough light the plant will stretch upwards. Move them closer.

HOW LONG
Use a timer, cheap in Wal-Mart. Lights needs to be on for 24 hours per day for seed flats of annuals, vegetables, herbs and perennials. until germination occurs. Then, cut down to 12-16 hours for flowering plants. 12-14 hours for foliage plants. The light should be on at the same time every days, thus a timer is useful incase you forget.

AIR CIRCULATION
Very important to prevent damping off (rotting) of seeds and fungus. Also to bring carbon dioxide that the plants need for photosynthesis during the day and fresh oxygen which they need to breathe during day and night. You need mild air movement, without a cold draft.

TEMPERATURE
Once the seeds germinate, it is best to grow plants between 65-70 degrees for sturdy seedling. More beneficial is to have a lower temperature when the lights are out at night.
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MY GROWING PLANTS UNDER LIGHTS, 2002
I have grown plants under light for many years. When I first started back in the 70's, I had a big house with plenty of room for a metal plant stand with 4 shelves of double 24" plant lights. In 2002, I bought a small house with no space for the stand. There were no plants in the yard, except for some yellow irises. The winter following the purchase of my house I started sowing seeds. I sowed 54 varieties of perennials that following winter. Here is how I did it!

Luckily I have an extra bedroom that is now my office. I mounted 4, 48" long x 12" wide shelves on adjustable brackets on the wall. I bought 4 shoplights and replaced the tubes with grow lights, each light fixture held 2 tubes. I used light-weighed chains to hold the lights, one on each end. The chains were wrapped around the shelf above so could be raised and lowered easily. I also had small wood scraps that I used to raise individual flats closer to the light, if needed.

Out of 54 varieties, I saved 12 of each variety to share with my daughter. I quickly built a coldframe to transfer them into. Some I potted up for my daughter. Some went in to my nursery garden after hardening off. By fall, those in the coldframe was ready for planting out. I again sowed more seeds that fall and overwintered them in the coldframe.

CAPTION OF PHOTO
These are one part of the shelves I used. I emptied them to show. You can see the chain and how it is wrapped around the shelf. The ends of the chain was attached with S hooks so I could adjust the height.

Never again will I sow indoors. I now use my coldframe. A few flats go in a sunny window in my garage to sprout with warming weather. They are under a plastic dome to prevent drying out. If I need to, I can set up the metal stand in the garage.

I hope you find this information useful.