Using a grow light for your vegetables

[Lamboluke]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=161407160392

Still seems expensive but not as bad as the other example of metal halide type lights with the reflector and transformers. Still, is the price due to the bulbs? Will a normal bulb be useless?

[Bigmallly]

Have you got any reading time available?

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...hts_69290.html

[TrysHard]

I use a ready made grow light garden and I find the biggest difference is that the seedlings don't get leggy and bent leaning towards the window. Tomato plants in particular are much shorter and sturdier, which means they don't fall over so easily when you are repotting them.

With Toms if they get leggy just plant a bit deeper they love that, I normally plant a good 3 inches lower in the ground - and in the greenhouse I plant slightly deeper about an inch and then leave space in the pot to earth up. Am I the only one that does this.

[Penellype]

With Toms if they get leggy just plant a bit deeper they love that, I normally plant a good 3 inches lower in the ground - and in the greenhouse I plant slightly deeper about an inch and then leave space in the pot to earth up. Am I the only one that does this.

I plant as deep as I can, but my early tomatoes have to put up with being in 3l pots and these are only about 6 inches deep so there is a serious limit to how much I can bury. I do plant the outdoor ones as deeply as I can and they seem to do well with that treatment. I haven't tried earthing up, but that does sound an interesting idea.

[Kristen]

I'm not sure about planting deep when potting-on ...

Tomatoes will form roots from the stem, but that takes time, so represents a delay / check.

If you plant deep there there is less compost under the roots, so not much for them to grow down into. They will grow upwards, but if I remember by Botany from school correctly, they are geo-tropic and are more inclined to grow downwards

So either deep pots (like Clematis pots, or Long Toms - about 4" square but much taller than normal), or avoid leggy-ness of course ... I've done that in the past, but I only have one spit depth of good compost in my greenhouse borders (and 12" pots, if I grew in containers, are also only about a spit deep), so I can't plant particularly deep when I plant out. I have tried planting them on their sides, but for a tomato plant that is already tall (mine are usually 3' tall or so at planting out time) the stem is too rigid. I did contemplate growing them on, on their sides, so they grew a right-angle bend, but how to water them! Perhaps I need wide pots, rather than tall ones

I've been experimenting with pricking out more leggy seedlings by not stuffing the roots down at the bottom the dibbler hole - making a narrower diameter hole, and when pushing the seedlings in letting the roots align vertically back up the hole so that they are not all at the bottom, hopefully that will let the roots spread throughout the whole pot more quickly / easily, and thus the plants will have a better rootball, earlier, and be more developed [in a given length of time]

Only possible to do that when pricking out, and not when potting on.

[Jungle Jane]

I use my fish tank lid as a germination spot,the lights are about 4inches above the pots,it's great,germination is quicker & the stems are a lot thicker,stronger plants. Would it be good to add some sides & a roof to house it all in-less heat escaping? Once germinated I move them to the windowsills then start more off. I'm wondering about growing through the winter,but I'd need a bigger set-up,one day.....

[Gema13]

I start my seedlings off under a cfl in a small cupboard. I also have a hps light in the polytunnel powered by solar. I find this a great way to extend my growing season especially living in scotland

[Kristen]

I also have a hps light in the polytunnel powered by solar

I used to run my Metal Halide (600W) lamp [in the house] over night, as we have Economy-7 tarriff which is cheaper at night. Now we have PV solar panels fitted to the roof I run the lamp during the day, hopefully the PV panels are more often generating more power than I actually use, so I wind up lighting the seedlings "for free". I ought to do some meter readings to see if I am fooling only myself though!!

[Bacchus]

Now we have PV solar panels fitted to the roof I run the lamp during the day, hopefully the PV panels are more often generating more power than I actually use, so I wind up lighting the seedlings "for free". I ought to do some meter readings to see if I am fooling only myself though!!

I too have PV panels fitted. Only a 4kW system but enough I think to offset a continuous daily lamp - The problem is that there are so many other chargers TV's etc going that the spare capacity is minimal

[Kristen]

The problem is that there are so many other chargers TV's etc going that the spare capacity is minimal

We have all ours off-at-the wall (except for the Sky Recorder box thingie). I think its a dreadful indictment that society has moved in this direction of wasted energy (I read a statistic that the average household is now using 50% more power than a decade or two ago).

About 7 years ago I went on a war footing for power theft in the house (and family members leaving things on!). We read our Leccy meter weekly to see how we did, and over the course of 6 months or so we cut our electricity usage, and bill, by 50%

Saves us £not-very-much, relative to other expenditure, but if every house in the land did it ... some power stations would not have to run 24/7.

[Bacchus]

I went on a war footing for power theft in the house (and family members leaving things on!)

I tried that - Have you any idea how much noise a 7 and 11 year old can make if their console runs out of power?!

We do try and charge things during the day where possible - tricky in the winter though - however since getting in the PV system it has focused the mind to get the most out of it. I imagine this is the case for all people who install it.

[Kristen]

I tried that - Have you any idea how much noise a 7 and 11 year old can make if their console runs out of power?!

If they came to stay here they would have to recharge at the "recharging station". An extension "brick" for rechargers with a push-button timer on it. Plug in, push button, and get a maximum of 4 hours charge. Any charger plugged in elsewhere and left on (with nothing being charged) is confiscated ... same as any device being charged on the floor - why do kids do that after repeatedly being told not to? Do they really believe that no one, ever!, will step on their Phone/Nintendo/Whatever and break them? <sigh!>

We do try and charge things during the day where possible - tricky in the winter though - however since getting in the PV system it has focused the mind to get the most out of it.

Its taken me some time to shift mental attitude ... I'm still trying to set the dishwasher to come on during the night, most evenings. Its like trying to give up an addiction to Alcohol or Fags!

[Penellype]

I had a PV system installed nearly 2 years ago and it does make you very aware of how much you are using. I have an "Owl" monitor system which links to my PC and shows how much power is being generated and used at any time. Its not wildly accurate but its a decent guide. I've managed to get my baseline minimum usage over night down to just 960W and my daily power consumption down to somewhere between 4.5 and 7 kWh depending on what I am doing, with imported power even at this time of year rarely topping 4kWh. This includes running 2 freezers and 2 sets of growlights currently.

I think I am a bit obsessive with this somehow!

[rhyswales]

All these set ups, and I just use regular old desk lamps with 40-60watt CFL bulbs :/

[Kristen]

I just use regular old desk lamps with 40-60watt CFL bulbs :/

3W LED here