Tinted glass

[bario1]

Hi All,

As I have limited space in my flat for seedlings (no windowsills), I am thinking of bringing mine into the office where I work and leaving them in the windows there to grow on for a month or two before they go into my polytunnel. My only concern though, is that the office has those floor to ceiling toughened glass windows, and they have a slight tint as well.
There are houseplants growing happily in the office, but would this type of glass cut out too much light for young seedlings? Has anyone tried growing behind glass like this, and how were the results?


Thanks.

[roitelet]

You could try taking half the seedlings to the office and see how they do.

[Kristen]

Seedlings tend to need good light - vegetables in general, rather than ornamentals that might want shade - so you might find that they are drawn by the lower light. Putting something behind then (white card or polystyrene) will help reflect some light onto the back of them. (Kitchen foil apparently not an idea reflector as creates hot spots thus matt white card / polystyrene sheet better choice).

Other than that I expect it depends on the coatings - some pretty fancy coatings available, and double - triple glazing will reduce the amount of light - so probably the older the glass the more likely it is to be suitable

Most house plants will survive in reduced light - that is of course part of what makes them suitable as house plants so perhaps not a good benchmark for how seedlings will be.

I'd be interested to hear how they do though - hopefully someone else has tried it and can give you a better answer.