Light For Seed Germination

[Artisan]

I am starting some seeds in my studio using a heated mat under seed trays. My next thoughts were about the light conditions needed when growing the seedlings on once the seeds had germinated. As an artist I use day light bulbs to light my studio. Does anyone know if these types of day light bulbs will be of any benefit to the seedlings? The light given off by the bulbs has the same luminous as bright daylight.

I would be interested to know if anyone has any thoughts on the matter.

[Jungle Jane]

I think my old aquarium light is a daylight bulb it’s a T8 - 30watt. I think it’ll be alright to start plants off under it,you could compare one seedling on a windowsill & one under light to see how big the gap is between soil level & seed leaves,the windowsill one would be a bit leggier they’d look a bit different. A problem with lights is you can fit loads under there to start with in their little cell trays but when they need potting on into 3 inch pots there’s no space,treat each seed like it’s 3 inches wide

[casejones]

standard florescent light tubes work fine but distance from the seedlings is also important. 3in -4in ; 7cm-10 cm. max distance.

[Cadalot]

Best to have one from each of the spectrum see Alans Allotment: Grow Light Station 2

[Jungle Jane]

Unless you’re growing indoors all year it doesn’t matter using these lights to start them off,it’s just till March then they can go outside in the day depending on the temp in the growhouse. This lights just for green growth,not flowering. My lights off at the moment but you can see this pepper plants doing alright.

[monkeyboy]

If it helps, my propagator came with sunblaster T5 24W lights.

[the big lebowski]

hi, what do you mean by "day light bulbs " ? can you post a pic for us pls? as has been said already floro`s will be fine for the 1st couple of months until they can go outside ,are you going to set these lamps up near the plants or are they just in the normal lightbulb holders on the ceiling ? if they are they will not be close enough ,cheers

[Artisan]

hi, what do you mean by "day light bulbs " ? can you post a pic for us pls? as has been said already floro`s will be fine for the 1st couple of months until they can go outside ,are you going to set these lamps up near the plants or are they just in the normal lightbulb holders on the ceiling ? if they are they will not be close enough ,cheers

The bulbs that I use in my studio are the attached. There are two in ceiling fittings and one in a lamp attached to my easel. The ceiling is low unlike normal house ceilings.

The bulbs are low energy 20 and 32 Watt.

[Cadalot]

TBL
Daylight 6500k Cool Light 2700k bulbs the two ends of the spectrum

[the big lebowski]

ok artisan if your easel light is portable then it could work ,how many seeds are you growing ? if its 1-10 then that should be fine any more and you might need more than one lamp or to try and set up some under the other lights .

cad as was already said on the other page i wouldnt use the red spec light as they are more for flowering and ive heard mixed stories on the benifits ,its your set up do as you like but i wouldnt us them ,cheers

[Artisan]

ok artisan if your easel light is portable then it could work ,how many seeds are you growing ? if its 1-10 then that should be fine any more and you might need more than one lamp or to try and set up some under the other lights .

cad as was already said on the other page i wouldnt use the red spec light as they are more for flowering and ive heard mixed stories on the benifits ,its your set up do as you like but i wouldnt us them ,cheers

I'm sowing in batches of 10 with a maximum of 30 at anyone time. As soon as they have germinated I remove them form the heat mat and keep them in the studio which is heated to between 15 and 20c.

[the big lebowski]

well thats good to take them off the heat matt ,temp wise it sounds good ,whats the total amount of plants your looking to grow ? you mentioned you sow in batches of 30 but what do you do with the ones that are up ? where do you put those ? if its on a windowsill you might get away with it down on the south coast ,start praying for sun cheers

[Artisan]

I have just started sowing seeds last weekend so I have no more than ten germinated at the moment. I have a greenhouse which gets some warmth from a Paraffin heater so I will move the seedlings into the greenhouse when the ambient outdoor temperature gets a little higher. Although we are having a cold spell at the moment the temperatures in March onward are not so bad in Mid Devon.

[It never rains..it pours]

Im using 2 coiled CFL (same as your picture) 20w and 35w on two desk lamps (its all come from the not used now but dont throw away box) along with some foil for reflection on seedling in evenings, natural sun in conservatory during day. So far so good.
Link below compares CFL and LED.

Which is the better growing lamp: LED or CFL or sunlight?

[Artisan]

Im using 2 coiled CFL (same as your picture) 20w and 35w on two desk lamps (its all come from the not used now but dont throw away box) along with some foil for reflection on seedling in evenings, natural sun in conservatory during day. So far so good.
Link below compares CFL and LED.

Which is the better growing lamp: LED or CFL or sunlight?

I earlier removed the lamp from my easel and positioned it over the new seedlings so time will tell whether the daylight bulb is successful, helpful or not. Now painting by torchlight.