Been reading a lot of posts by Alabama Jack and his Germinator and grow box. Can someone give me an explanation as to what the advantage is to growing your seedlings in a grow box vs just under fluorescents. Will I see better results or stronger plants, or what? I was looking at an 8 bulb T5 light set up which produces 40,000 Lumens to put into a grow box. Would this be too much light for seedlings? Too much heat? Any suggestions, ideas or input. Thanks.
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Any advantages to making a grow box?
- Thread starter kcso53
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A grow box such as AJ has allows for controlling temps. Nice, but IMO opinion not a necessity as long as you have a way of keeping the soil warm (~85 degrees). It also has the advantage of walls that reflect light, at least if if is painted or lined with something like Mylar. I use one that is about 4'x8' but also grow lots of seedlings on an open bench lined with Mylar, plus have one for germinating seeds. Once they sprout, I really have not noted any significant difference in growth rates.
YMMV,
Mike
YMMV,
Mike
Not sure how many seeds your trying to grow, but I went the cheap route and got a jiffy 72 germination kit that comes with a heater. I've used it 2 years and had great germination rates. Once they sprout you may want to get a good CFL or MH setup to grow them out a bit before putting them outside. For me I just use a 400 watt eye hortilux MH bulb that gives me 39,000 lumens and cost a lot less than running 8 T5 bulbs. I usually grow them inside for 6-8 weeks where they are about 12-16" then they go outside.
Advantage is more efficient use of light and heat regulation, especially useful when starting a lot of seedlings.