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seeds Do seedlings need dark?

JasoninTN

JasoninTN

Kind of new to starting peppers had 10 reaper seeds only got a couple to start and then had them under a fluorescent grow light 24 hours a day the leaves started to look sun burnt and they died. Do they need dark for several hours was going to start some more seeds but not sure what I did wrong. I did soak them then used small cups with jiffy start seed mix. I have grown a lot of peppers but always from started plants I bought. I have got a lot of seeds and was planing a big grow next summer seeds came from folks here and pods I got last year. Lots of supper hots. Any help would be great. Thanks

Jason
 
This is the light I am using http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=2516 should I turn it off to give some dark time put it on a timer or just let it run all the time? I am doing terrible on getting some seeds going. Still have some time to figure it out befor I need to start the bulk of them some time in Feb.

Jason
 
where do u have this light fixture at in a closet?i have seedlings & i used to do what u used to do before & i burned da heck out of them.what i do asap i wake up i turn it on & leave it on till ima goto sleep & i turn it back on again when i wake up on & on it goes, & i been having success like tht but it can also depend how close you have tht light to the plants. I Seen/Heard "12-16" hour Light On Is Good.







This Can Proly Help: http://www.ehow.com/...nts-inside.html
 
Sick625 said:
where do u have this light fixture at in a closet?i have seedlings & i used to do what u used to do before & i burned da heck out of them.what i do asap i wake up i turn it on & leave it on till ima goto sleep & i turn it back on again when i wake up on & on it goes, & i been having success like tht but it can also depend how close you have tht light to the plants. I Seen/Heard "12-16" hour Light On Is Good.







This Can Proly Help: http://www.ehow.com/...nts-inside.html
Click to expand...

Just setting in the floor near the glass back porch door so they get some natural light too. Well they did all are dead now. Going to try again soon. Thanks for the info.

Jason
 
im pretty sure it was proly have the light on for 24hrs thats wht killed them. This Time Try It With 12-15hrs on & turn it off & next morning doit again.

& dont over water seedlings, remember indoor plants need less water then outdoor plants.
 
They don't need a rest period. I've grown many, many peppers starting them with 24hr light... the temperature is the killer here I'd suspect. I had this same problem when I got started... Somebody told me to buy one of those laser temp guns - I did and immediately saw the problem. I backed off my lights, opened the door to the room and ran a fan... With my T5's I was heating them over 100F and burning them out... now I keep the temp below 85 and have no problems.
 
You might describe more of what happened to the leaves - you said they looked sunburned, but other things can cause that, too.
Agree heat/temp makes a diff - having the light too close will definitely do it.
But another thought is that you will get a number of different opinions on whether plants "should" have light 24 hours a day or not. Some people do keep their plants lit 24 hours a day. I am of the mindset that we should, to some extent, imitate what happens in nature in this respect, albeit supplemented with fertilizer, etc. Plants outside get dark at night, and often seem to have growth spurts overnight. I'm of the opinion that plants do best when allowed to rest at least a handful of hours overnight. Others keep the lights on 24/7, but I'm not convinced they're getting the greatest yield this way. Go with what feels right to you.
 
With my seedlings, I have always had excellent results running my grow lights 17 hours on - 7 hours off.

I'm not 100% certain that this is the best system that there is, but it has been working well for me for four years. Also, I don't know whether it is related to the darkness, BUT, I often notice growth spurts that occur during the dark hours.
 
I too observe the biggest spurts during the dark hours. No question about it.

I *personally* get best results from 19/20 hours light on, 5/4 hours light off. But that's just what works *for me*. And my "lights on" consists of real sun during the day and afterhours fluoro. I am a big believer in natural is best. (Of course, it helps too when the winter where you are is mild (frost-free and certainly no snow) and the winter sun is perfect to just whack your babies straight out into. ;))
 
Plants do most of their growing during the dark (cycle). I can't imagine a fluorescent lamp producing enough heat to actually burn your plant? They are relatively cool unless you are almost touching the lamp itself...
 
meinchoh said:
I can't imagine a fluorescent lamp producing enough heat to actually burn your plant? They are relatively cool unless you are almost touching the lamp itself...
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the same.

I've had plants so close to my fluoro that they've been all but actually touching the lamp and still haven't burnt. In actual fact, I usually try to keep them no further than an inch away. It's only when they've actually touched the lamp that I've seen burnage.
 
Thanks for all the info. I don't think it got hot enough to burn the plants. Had about 5" above. Was light on the water. Don't know how to describe the leaves other than sun burnt. Was growing great third set of leaves or so then just died pretty quick. Still learning will start a few more seeds soon and see how things go.

Jason
 
5" doesn't sound close enough to burn with flouros. i wondering if you had other issues with water or soil. too wet and seedlings will rot at the soil (damping off).

post some pics if you have them. these folks round here can diagnose just about any issues we have from a few pics.
 
Sorry no pics will try again soon. Could have been something in the soil. Just looked a lot like indoor plants that you take out into the hot sun and they burn. Sent a email to Ed Curry where I got the reaper seeds. He actually called me said he would send me some seeds and some of his starter mix to give a try. Talked to me a bit was a real nice guy. Not many folks will take the time to do something like that for the $20 worth of seeds I bought from him. Will let you know how it goes don't blame the seeds something I did wrong I am sure.

Jason
 
Hi Jason. I've germinated thousands of chili seedlings and got it wrong on way too many occasions to mention!
But the little guys running out of moisture is my biggest failing by far. I'd say I've lost 20 times as many seedlings late in from work and dried out as I have from damping off cause it's too humid.

I have a Chocolate Bhut Jolokia a nd a Rocoto Yellow sharing a pot right now. Trial germinations that I don't have a lot invested in but hey. They may be good for next year. About a week ago they were dry and crispy. They looked like if you rubbed them between your fingers they'd be dust. I splashed them with water and they've recovered which is fine. My point is that they sat in daylight at perhaps 12 - 15C whatever that is in farenheit. It was lack of moisture pure and simple not heat or light.

I've had 100 seedlings 2 inches from a 125Wcfl on a regular basis and not lost any. And 24 hrs light per day for 6 weeks.

I strongly suspect that lack of moisture is what did for your seedlings. That you only got 2 of 10 to germinate I's guess that your whole germination set up would benefit from being more damp/wet/humid. I go quite a lot dryer once they're under way but a humid place is what seems good for my seedlings at germination and for at least a couple of weeks.

I don't clam to be an expert. What do others think?
 
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