Do I need to grow under lights?

Do I need to grow under florescent lights? I don't feel inclined to spend the money. Got to watch the budget! I've started my seeds, and they seem to be doing fine though a bit leggy. What did the old-timers do before florescent lights?

kathy4836 - I'm an "old timer" and before there were fluorescent lights, I sowed seeds directly in the garden.

I've tried growing on sunny windowsills without success.

When I lived in South Florida, I was able to start seedings in pots outside before setting them in the garden.

To get a "head start" on the growing season, I have found the investment in shop lights to be the best. They last for several years.

If your seedlings get too "leggy" they will eventually collapse. Hardening them off will also be difficult.

One way to make a shop light do double duty, is to swap out your trays every twelve hours. Put one set of trays under the tubes for 12 hours, then swap out another set for twelve hours. I learned this trick from another DG member (I think it was Gymgirl).

Yep. It was me! And, it was a pain, morning and evening. Only because I was rotating out 208 tomato seedlings, and 65 bell pepper seedlings on 4 shelves. I got zealous with the seed sowing hand!

Also, I had a total of 4 bulbs (two 2-light kits) per shelf. This made a tremendous difference from the year before when I only used 2 lights per shelf. The plants on the edges kinda suffered from stretching toward the middle to catch some light!

Kits run $10/per at the big box stores. I got a case of 12 cool lights on sale for $12 and put one cool and one regular light in each fixture. These lights will last at least the next 8-10 growing seasons for me!

Honeybee and Gymgirl, thanks for your replies! , I located a four foot fluorescent lamp in the basement with two lights in it. My brother left it here. How do I know if they are 'cool' or 'regular'? (dumb question, right?) I thought all fluorescent lights were cool? I'll try hooking it up this weekend and try to find a way to set it up so I can put my plants under it. My tomatoes are about 2 1/2 inches tall, but the peppers are just coming up. I'll give it a try!

I just use the regular florescent shop lights - I don't think they delineated whether they were "cool" or something else. They were just basic shop lights! I am doing this for the 5th year and they are doing fine for me. They have made a huge difference. My seedlings are growing more slowly (not stretching for the sunlight) and therefore are more compact with stronger stems. Once it is warmer and they go outside they will catch up in height.

Kathy,
I neglected to say that I bought those "cool" lights only because they happened to be on sale.

Like Gardadore, I too have used just regular old fluorescent bulbs in the past, with great results.

Use what is easily and readily available to you!

If you are buying new lights, they will be labeled warm or cool. Most of the time we don't pay attention because it doesn't affect our using the lights. I think that the three big things for me are the lights, bottom watering and fan for air circulation. I have the fan on a couple of hours a day - an hour or hour and a half in the morning and night. This has help me cut down tremendously on my problems.