Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Fairly newbie questions, 1 by janaestone

janaestone wrote:
Hi everyone,
I have a few questions for you with a couple of pictures. I just started with my first brug starts in early fall. I've been wanting to try these for the longest time and finally took the plunge - thanks to a few generous DG friends. Unfortunately, I think I've overwhelmed my reasoning by trying to read and retain too much info from everyone!

I started all my plants in water and transplanted them into pots with lots of added perlite about a month ago. I've tried the gentle tug and on all but one I've gotten just a bit of resistance so i know they're finally rooting in the soil. They are in my storage room that stays right at 70 degrees and they have a growlight on them 12 hours of the day. There is an in-wall heater in the storage room (it used to be part of my garage) and it really dries out the soil so I've been giving them 1/2 cup water every three weeks.
Should I be using bottom heat on them as well? I have heated grow mats I can put under them if needed.
Next, should I start giving them half-strength fertilizer? I have MG on hand but my nursery keeps a good stock of all kinds of fertilizer if you think there's something better.