Propagation: Leggy seedling help, 1 by RickCorey_WA

RickCorey_WA wrote:
Cleaning tubes and reflectors can also help improve intensity.

If you replace the bulbs, there are higher-output tubes that will give brighter light. But they tend to cost more and be less efficient. I don't mean replacing T-12 with T-8 or T-5. I mean some T-12 tubes put out more lumens (are brighter) than other T-12 tubes.

I wish I could recall whether the "warm red" or "cool blue" colors encouraged elongation. My guess is that cool blue tubes would be a better choice - say two blues and one red.

Cindy said:
>> I use a pair of cuticle or embroidery scissors to snip each one that I don't want off at the soil line, maybe keeping the shortest and sturdiest.

I have some kind of tiny, cheap scissor. The jaws are only an inch or so long, and one blade has a notch or hook in it near the tip. That's great for grabbing one seedling stem and pulling it away from the others before I snip.

As far as I can tell online, it must have been a cat or bird nail scissor!

http://www.miniinthebox.com/small-stainless-steel-cats-and-b...

http://www.petco.com/product/118820/Petco-Cat-Claw-Nail-Scis...

P.S. One way to get the stems sturdier is to have a small fan that blows on them. Intermittently would be ideal. Or just run it for a few minutes a few times per day.

But the high lips on those cups would shield them from "wind".








This message was edited Feb 4, 2014 5:43 PM