I started my first crop with seeds. The are starting to pop out of the ground. Now being that I dont have any real equipment. I had the seeds in plastic cups filled with miracle-gro soil and have had them close to a regular lamp in my room with two soft white bulbs. They were a good 4 inches away from the light bulbs because I didnt know how else to get the soil to 85 degrees. Anyways, yesterday they started springing out of the soil and my question is should I raise the lamp? Is 4 inches way to close for the babies? It is going to burn them? I currently moved them down to about 10 inches from the bulbs. I would put them by a window, but my windows have that wire mesh type thing and im sure it degrades the light coming in. Any help?
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- Thread starter misterbrownstone06
- Start date
NO im not using CFL's. Im a newbie at this and I heard just to get them started you need heat and moisture. Now that they are sprouting, Im not exactly sure what to do. Should I switch to CFL's now that they are growing and how far apart do I keep the bulbs from the plant itself. I have them covered right now with a clear covering so that I could retain most of the heat inside.
Okay, good to hear that they've sprouted for you.
It's true that they just need heat and moisture to germinate.
But now that they've done that, you're going to need a better light source for them than incandescent bulbs.
The bulbs you're currently using won't supply the plants with the proper light spectrum they'll need for healthy growth.
So you can either place them in a south facing window or you can get some growlights for them.
A 2 tube 4' flourescent shop fixture with a built in reflector that uses t8 tubes would be the most efficient for you.
You can pick one of those up quite cheaply at most hardware stores.
And with fluorescent lights, because they don't give off a lot of heat, you can have the tops of your plants 3 or 4 inches below the bulbs.
Just remember to raise the lights as your plants grow closer to the bulbs.
Good luck!
dvg
It's true that they just need heat and moisture to germinate.
But now that they've done that, you're going to need a better light source for them than incandescent bulbs.
The bulbs you're currently using won't supply the plants with the proper light spectrum they'll need for healthy growth.
So you can either place them in a south facing window or you can get some growlights for them.
A 2 tube 4' flourescent shop fixture with a built in reflector that uses t8 tubes would be the most efficient for you.
You can pick one of those up quite cheaply at most hardware stores.
And with fluorescent lights, because they don't give off a lot of heat, you can have the tops of your plants 3 or 4 inches below the bulbs.
Just remember to raise the lights as your plants grow closer to the bulbs.
Good luck!
dvg
Thanks! Well im a rookie. still learning. Heres what ive got so far:
I know I have lots of work. I will definately take DVG's advice and get a some flourescents. Im just worried because I have 8 cups and only 3 have sprouted out of the ground. The rest have broken shell, but they just havent popped out of the soil. So I guess I need to get flourescents and move over the three while leaving the rest in my current set up. I was also worried because I notice the top of the main stem was a brownish color and I thought the lamp was burning the baby but I think thats the seed that popped out of the ground correct or is something wrong with my plants?
Thanks for the pics. I just started growing them 6 months ago. Your germination set-up looks pretty good especially given the circumstances you mentioned.
and how do i do this??? just pulling them off? I mean would they really die? how have they survived in the world this long? is it possible they just fall off?
Normally the soil pulls them off as they come through the dirt.
I normally use a pair of tweezers and give them a gentle squeeze to break the seed then gently pull them off.
Avoid squeezing the stems, that will make them die also (why I use tweezers).
If they are still attached they cannot photosynthesise, they will survive for some time while the first root develops but will eventually die.
They might just fall off on their own accord if they are loose, but normally they do not.
Almost all seeds that I have left casings on have died regardless of the plant type.
That's just not true.....leave them alone, they'll shed the caps.
I pulled them off quite easily. They just needed a slight nudge. Anyways, I got the fluorescent lights for the jolokias and the tip of the leaves look a lighter shade of green. could this mean that i have the lights too close? and i also removed the plastic covering and i feel like the top of the soil is drying very fast. should i keep watering it or what? i hear you shouldnt over water the younglings.
If the lights were too close, the leaves would turn a dark-ish purple, so that is probably not the case. Just put your fingers in there right above the tips of the seedlings. If it's a little warm, that's about right. If it's hot, the light is too close. 4" should be OK; no harm would be done by backing it up to more like 6". I can't tell what kind of flouro it is from your pic, but if it's a T5, 4" would not be a problem at all; a T12 would be hotter at 4".
Be conservative with the watering. Like once per week or so, not every day or two or three -- but that said, give 'em a good solid watering each time you water so that it gets to the bottom of the cups. Don't make the mistake of being so gun-shy with the watering that it never penetrates to the roots and then gets evaporated off under the lights, because in that case your seedlings will effectively be getting no water at all. Pick up your plants a lot over the next few weeks and try to develop a gut feel for what a very dry cup weighs. By picking them up, you'll learn not to overrely on the surface moisture level. There will be plenty of moisture below the surface for a long time after the surface is dry. Under close lights, the surface moisture will get burned off very quickly. The surface moisture level to the touch can be very deceptive. Learn to do it by weight.
Be conservative with the watering. Like once per week or so, not every day or two or three -- but that said, give 'em a good solid watering each time you water so that it gets to the bottom of the cups. Don't make the mistake of being so gun-shy with the watering that it never penetrates to the roots and then gets evaporated off under the lights, because in that case your seedlings will effectively be getting no water at all. Pick up your plants a lot over the next few weeks and try to develop a gut feel for what a very dry cup weighs. By picking them up, you'll learn not to overrely on the surface moisture level. There will be plenty of moisture below the surface for a long time after the surface is dry. Under close lights, the surface moisture will get burned off very quickly. The surface moisture level to the touch can be very deceptive. Learn to do it by weight.
SO they are not burning? Could they have bacteria? or fungai? What does that look like? Im using 4" T8 fluorescents. And ive been watering them with a spray so I dont know if the water goes all the way to the bottom. How do I water?
Several members, including myself, bottom water. Basically fill a tray with and inch of water and sit the plant container in it. The soil will wick water up. It is a bit tricky determining how long you should leave it sit. It depends on your soil. Try it a few times and you will figure it out. I usually base it off the weight of the container.
T8's at 4" should be fine. But if you are uncomfortable with it, there is no penalty for backing it up to 6 or 8 " for a while to see how things progress. At the cotyledon stage where you're currently at, it doesn't matter much. The cotyledons are basically giving the plant what it needs to get through to true leaves, and would probably do so in the dark. Cotylendons are not just photoreceptors like true leaves and may not be photoreceptors at all (I'm not sure); they are primarily little nutrition storage depots. Like the booster rockets that get a rocket off the pad and into space and then fall off - just as the cotyledons will do when their work is done. So light is something you don't need to sweat right now. Eventually, after there's a couple sets of leaves, you want to get it down to as close as you can go without the leaves being hot, which is usually about 4-6" depending on the lights. It's pretty variable. My T5's will turn most plants purple at 8 inches and need to be backed off to 10 " to prevent purpling. However, there is no real penalty for leaves turning purple - the plants, strangely, don't seem to care and grow fine regardless.
You'd have to post a pic to get an assessment of whether there's something going on with bacteria or fungus, but there probably isn't anything wrong. Green always looks yellower than it should, especially when the eventual pepper is particularly desired and unavailable in the supermarket.
+1 on bottom watering.
-1,000,000 on using a spray bottle. Don't water with a spray. I did that on one tray of 8 and they all died together, overnight, after about 2 weeks. Just died of thirst. The spray deposits a tiny amount of water on the surface, where it's almost immediately evaporated off under the lights. Spritzing water onto the pots never makes it to the roots! Either bottom water (best), or carefully water in from the top with a pitcher with a narrow snout or small-diameter neck around the sides of the pots so as not to disturb the delicate seedlings. Put in enough water so it really gets to the bottom, and then relax for a week.
You'd have to post a pic to get an assessment of whether there's something going on with bacteria or fungus, but there probably isn't anything wrong. Green always looks yellower than it should, especially when the eventual pepper is particularly desired and unavailable in the supermarket.
+1 on bottom watering.
-1,000,000 on using a spray bottle. Don't water with a spray. I did that on one tray of 8 and they all died together, overnight, after about 2 weeks. Just died of thirst. The spray deposits a tiny amount of water on the surface, where it's almost immediately evaporated off under the lights. Spritzing water onto the pots never makes it to the roots! Either bottom water (best), or carefully water in from the top with a pitcher with a narrow snout or small-diameter neck around the sides of the pots so as not to disturb the delicate seedlings. Put in enough water so it really gets to the bottom, and then relax for a week.
Josh,
I have actually forgot and left trays of seedlings in water overnight - no harm. The excess water will drain.
Mike