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seeds Is heat or light more important for seedlings?

Stone

Stone

Hi,

I've started my seeds early this year as last year I planted on the first day of spring (September 1st) and quite a few of my plants weren't mature enough in summer to fruit properly. Now my issue is I am starting to get quite a few seedlings coming up but don't really have anywhere inside my house with plentiful natural light for them. There is light but nothing that is bright all day.

So my options are;

- Keep seedlings inside at 15-22C (59-72F) with not great lighting

- Put the seedlings outside in a mini greenhouse which will vary from 5-16C (41-61F) but will have full natural light all day.

Will the seedlings die in those temperatures or will they just slow down their growth? Last year I grew some seedlings in lower light and they ended up quite spindly.

Any ideas? I don't want to use artificial lighting as I'm already under pressure for using too much electricity.


Thanks :)
 
Both are equally as important however, you have more wiggle room with the heat. Light is key to plant growth and if temps are very cold the seedlings or sprouts can die. As long as there is decent light and preferably room temp+ you will be good to go! :) Side note_ if you are germinating seeds they dont need light to germinate. Dont know if you are aware of that are not. So light is optional for germinating seeds
 
Thanks for the reply :)

Yeah, I'm aware the seeds don't need light. I have them sprouting in paper towel inside ziplock bags on a gentle heat source, which is working really well, and then transplanting the germinated seed to a pot with seed raising mix up on a high shelf to keep them a little warmer. Then once the sprout breaks the surface I've been putting them on a west facing window sill, for afternoon light, but I've run out of space!
 
I have one of these in the mail at the moment (been waiting for 3 weeks!) which I had planned to help germinate the seeds so maybe I could run that outside. I don't think the person in charge of my electricity use will be too happy though :)
 
Haha, yeah, I meant outside in the mini greenhouse with the heat mat. Sounds like a plan as long as the mat can keep a decent temperature in there.
 
Stone said:
I don't want to use artificial lighting as I'm already under pressure for using too much electricity.
Click to expand...

Hi Stone :)
That was one of my concerns too, but to put it into perspective...
Our 42" LCD tv uses 190w....a single flourescent tube uses 35w.
I have 4 x flourescent tubes running here currently, and it still uses less than our tv :)

And the heat mat you are getting....uses 20w...which is nothing at all. As example, an average wireless router is around 12w!!! I know it's a good thing to be energy conscious, but a heat mat is pretty cost effective.

I started my seeds back in march, and originally had a really small grow area under flouros...but I started running out of room, so I tried a few plants in the bathroom windowsill.....but like you, i didn't have much luck at all, and found that the plants were growing really tall but with no strength in the stems, and also they were bending over to try and get more light, so I had to create a bigger flouro grow area, which thrilled my wife as you can imagine...lol
 
The heating mat in the open greenhouse environment is a great idea. I lost a batch of my sprouts in a warm over moist environment after successful germination. My mistake was leaving the germinating tray cover on while in my light box. Insufficient air circulation provided ideal conditions for damping off and I suffered the consequences. Keeping the baby's feet warm is more important than the ambient air temp - IMO.
 
Stone said:
I have them sprouting in paper towel .....
Click to expand...
I recommend you switch to coffee filters in the future. The weave of paper towels is fairly loose, and the sprouts can dig their roots into them, making them difficult to remove without risk of damaging the sprout. The weave of coffee filters is much tighter, so this is less problematic.
 
If you are already using too much electricity, there is bound to be something you can put the sewn seeds next to under an enclosure (plastic tub upside down for example) to get the temperature higher. Try to keep temp closer to 80F for best germination rates.

After sprouted, definitely get them into the area with the most sun, but you are choosing between two poor alternatives, they need BOTH warmer temperatures and a lot of light to do well. Since your plants are going to grow slowly, make sure the soil you use is light and fluffy, full of barely decomposed material so the soil does not compact much before the plant's roots are well established.
 
Thanks for all the replies, guys. Very helpful :)

geeme... The paper towel I've been using is very similar to coffee filter so the root just grows along the surface rather than through the paper. I read about that before starting.

Dave... My seeds sit on top of a TV set top box under a plastic container which is a steady 29-30C (84-86F) so they should germinate well.
 
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